Angel's Breath
by Master Of Anime224
Summary: The year X790. Since the loss of most of Fairy Tail's core, Onibus town is struggling. That's why one woman had the vision to form a new guild. This guild's name: Angel's Breath. With the members it will acquire, who know just how far this guild will be able to go?
1. Prologue

AN: So hey guys, after reading some fics, I've decided to delve into the world of Fairy Tail with my very own OC guild story! Everyone, feel free to submit an OC or two, I do need some characters to help me get the story going, and I've always enjoyed the challenge of writing other people's characters! There will be an OC form at the end of the chapter, but for now, here's the prologue!

* * *

Prologue

Onibus Town. A town famous for its theatre, visited frequently by mages due to its unique bar: a bar aimed directly at mages. For the longest time, this town didn't have a guild of its own, instead deferring jobs to the nearest guild, Fairy Tail. However, this has all changed. In the year X787, three years after the disappearance of many of Fairy Tail's core members, one woman had the vision for change. A guild, built in the city itself, to allow those within the city in need of magical aid to receive quick assistance. In this year, the guild was created, built in a lesser populated area, with a large field situated directly behind the guild building, a few trees dotting the landscape. This was the site of Fiore's newest guild – Angel's Breath.

May X790. Onibus Town was prospering, the local economy boosted by an influx of mages. One such man stepped off a train, into the high noon sun of a beautiful spring day. Birds sang their songs as the young man squinted and shielded his eyes, obviously uncomfortable. This young man's name – Ryusuke Yugure. His sandy brown hair fell to his shoulders, his fringe partially hiding one of his sky blue eyes, and a small scar on the right side of his slightly angular face. He was relatively skinny, and stood at 5'11" tall. He wore a dark grey longcoat, the coattails finishing at his knees, covering a loose fitting black shirt and midnight blue jeans. He began walking from the platform into the station itself, his heavy black boots clomping along the tiled floor. Stepping into the sun, he began absentmindedly fondling the katana strapped to his back, his mind clearly wandering. He began fingering the red sash strapping his sword to his back, before giving a hefty sigh and moving onwards. He walked, no clear destination in mind as of yet, searching instead for something to simply occupy his time so he could think. After a short walk, a small, two storey building caught his attention, a sign above the double doors reading, "drinking house." He pushed the door inwards, paying no attention to his surroundings, and promptly took a seat at the bar. Ordering himself a beer, he once again retreated into his mind. After a short period, a smooth, feminine voice penetrated his thoughts. "Visiting mage?"

Ryusuke turned to the voice's owner, finding a lithe, raven-haired woman smiling at him. "Yeah, something like that," he replied, a bored expression adorning his face.

"So what exactly are you doing here?"

"Thinking."

"That's not exactly what I was asking, I meant what are you doing in Onibus?"

Ryusuke turned back to his beer, taking a sip before replying. "I don't know."

"So what, you just blew here on the wind?" A playful smile was on the girl's face, her eyes locked onto Ryusuke.

"Something like that."

The smile turned to a small frown. "You know, if you want to hold up a conversation, you actually have to put some effort in!"

Ryusuke merely sighed. "Perhaps I don't want to hold up a conversation?" He turned to the girl, eyes inquisitive, but otherwise with the same bored expression he had shown throughout the interaction. The girl's frown grew larger, and her tone grew slightly cross.

"That's a rude thing to say! Well, that shows me for trying to be friendly to a stranger!"

Ryusuke's expression remained the same, but his tone grew slightly less bored. "I apologise, I'm just deep in thought."

The girl's smile returned, and she took a long swig of her own drink. "I'm Rhea. Rhea Yokoshima."

"Ryusuke Yugure."

"So if you're a mage, what guild do you belong to?"

"I don't."

Rhea began to frown again. "Have you ever?"

"Nope. I was never interested in it."

"And now? After all, you are in a town with a guild!" She began to beam widely.

Ryusuke looked up at her. "And I care because?"

"It's a great guild! Most of the people are so friendly and welcoming, and it's so easy to make friends! There are plenty of jobs as well, so there's a lot of money to be made!" she beamed enthusiastically, the wide smile never leaving her face.

"What are you supposed to be, the saleswoman?" A tiny, playful smile now adorned Ryusuke's features.

Rhea's grin became even wider. "I guess I am, so whaddya think, Ryu-kun?"

Ryusuke sighed once again. "I think you shouldn't call me Ryu-kun." Rhea giggled slightly. "So, obviously you're a member then."

Rhea grinned widely again, standing up and giving Ryusuke a good look at her. "You're damn right! I'm an S-class mage of Angel's Breath!" As she spoke, Ryusuke took in her appearance. She was 5'8" tall, with a lithe figure. Her bust stuck out quite prominently, and her ebony hair fell a quarter of the way down her back, worn with a fringe covering one of her angular, hazel eyes. She was wearing a white, knee length skirt, mixing well with her tanned skin, and sky blue tank top. She wore a pair of simple sandals on her feet, and now wore a proud smile on her face. In short, she was rather attractive, but that wasn't what Ryusuke was focused on.

"An S-class mage? You don't exactly look all that strong…" Ryusuke commented, draining the last of his drink, and standing up to match her height.

Rhea laughed. "Looks, Ryu-kun, can be incredibly deceiving."

He smirked. "So, Angel's Breath? How far away is it?"

"Why don't I just show you?" Rhea grinned.

* * *

A large, three tiered building came into sight, Ryusuke still showing only indifference. However, a small smile graced his face as he saw the simple wooden sign above the large set of double doors, and the writing upon it: Angel's Breath. As well as this, there was a symbol between the words, of a small halo, flanked by an interconnected pair of feathery wings. A small cloud was seen blowing through the halo in the centre, and Ryusuke instantly envisioned a breath of wind. Rhea turned and beamed at him, a small hint of playfulness evident in her eyes.

"So, you ready to go in? Just remember, once you go in, you'll love it so much you won't want to leave!"

Ryusuke let out a small smile once again. "Do you ever stop grinning?"

The smile didn't falter. "Now, now, Ryu-kun! There's no need to be rude, after all, it looks like you and I are gonna be seeing a lot more of each other!" She stepped forward and pushed open the doors…

* * *

AN: So, there's the prologue of Angel's Breath! I hope you liked it, please remember to drop a review, after all, I need feedback to improve. Yeah, this one was just a long conversation, Ryusuke's character would have to be persuaded into joining any kind of guild at all, otherwise I wouldn't have just written that massive talk. Anyhow, I did say I'm accepting OCs, so have an OC form, and if you can, PM me the characters, I don't want the entire character being public knowledge straight away, especially for things like an ace technique or an interesting twist in the history!

Name:

Age:

Gender:

Appearance: Give me their height, body type etc. Hair colour, eye colour, eye shape, what their face looks like, any marks, eg scars or tattoos, and the location of their guild marks.

Personality:

Regular Attire: The clothes they wear most of the time

Formal Attire: Clothes for formal occasions

Swimwear:

Sleepwear:

Magic: Type of magic, how it works etc

Notable techniques: Please include details of the techniques, for example, how it works, and what it does, how it looks when the attack is used etc, it makes it a lot easier to write fight sequences. Please don't give your character all hax attacks, a couple of ace attacks is okay, but don't be ridiculous about it.

Weapons/Equipment:

History: Please include any and all points that may be important, including stuff that could make an interesting plot point later on. In fact, especially that stuff.

Other: Anything that you think I might have missed and you feel needs inclusion in the profile.

Okay, and just a quick note, I'm only taking 2-3 S-class mages, and only 20-25 OCs. Also, please, no Dragon Slayers unless it's absolutely essential to the character. Dragon Slayers have been done to death, and I'll only take 1 or 2, unless I really like the character. Adios for now, I have exams for the next few weeks, but I should get the next chapter up within the next couple of weeks. Also, I'd like to take a moment to pay written respects to Stephen Sutton, that kid is an inspiration.


	2. The Angel's Breath Guild

AN: Hey guys! After reading an omake of Dreadburner94's story, Undine's Cove (which you should all totally go read, it's awesome!), based on an OC he gave me, I felt the need to write this chapter. Thanks to everyone who has sent in OCs so far, and don't worry if your OC doesn't show up in this chapter, they'll all be showing up pretty soon. I still have room for a few more OCs, and another S-class mage if you want to drop me a PM. Anyway, I've rambled on enough, so I'll just thank Lightningpanda, MyDearWatson, SaiyaStyles, corymerlin, lexlovesya and Dreadburner94 for reviewing the prologue, Everyone who favourited and followed, and get on with the first actual chapter of this story.

* * *

Credits (In order of appearance):

Ryusuke Yugure – Master of Anime224

Rhea Yokoshima – Master of Anime224

Styles Kaizu – SaiyaStyles

Kimi Kaizu – SaiyaStyles

Rosa Caliburn – Master of Anime 224

Celeste Arturia – Dreadburner94

Alain Baz Sedgwick – Cat the Alien

Wisteria Eneta Solari – StitchedSanity

* * *

The Angel Breath Guild

"Did I not ask you to stop calling me Ryu-kun?" Ryusuke sighed, massaging his forehead, before taking in the inward appearance of the guild hall. The first floor was very spacious, and the right hand side full of tables of different sizes, all surrounded by chairs, some of which were occupied by various people. Ryusuke noticed a silver haired boy sat in the corner, with a wolf lying on the floor beside him, glance towards the door. He ignored the occurrence, returning to studying his surroundings. All the tables were simple wood, oak at a guess, remaining the natural colour of the wood, with the chairs being of the same material, and clearly designed ergonomically, with slightly tilted backs. There was a square bar situated dead centre in the room, a pillar set in the middle of the bar area, full of cupboards and shelving, with not a square inch uncovered by bottles or packages. There was a slightly tanned, raven haired girl with a purple bang, standing at around 5'4", purple lipstick accentuating her high cheekbones, wearing black and purple headphones with a purple choker around her neck at the bar, wiping down glasses with a washcloth. The bar occupied both sides of the room, half on each side, looking slightly lower on the right due to a lack of carpet, that side of the room instead being simple hardwood flooring. A lush white carpet adorned the floor on the left side of the room, where tan leather couches were arranged with three and two-seaters facing each other in 6 pairs, a low glass coffee table in-between each pair. On the left wall, there were two wooden noticeboards, spaced seven feet apart, with small pillar tables in front of them, aimed to be in the centre of the wall. These were the request boards, one for regular jobs, and one for S-class jobs. Opposite to the front doors, there was a comparatively small, simple door leading out to the field. Ryusuke turned to Rhea, still with a bored expression on his face. "So, where's the master?"

Rhea grinned. "So, you want to join then?"

"You've piqued my interest."

Rhea shouted over to the bar, "hey Kimi! D'you know where the master is?"

The girl at the bar turned her attention away from the glass she was wiping, and smiled widely. "Oh, hey Rhea! Yeah, she's in the office! Why do you need her?"

Rhea gestured towards Ryusuke. "Ryu-kun here wants to join the guild! Ain't that great?!"

The girl waved, her cheerful smile dropping somewhat. "Oh, hello. I'm Kimi Kaizu."

"Ryusuke Yugure," he grunted, before turning towards Rhea, "so where's this office?"

Rhea didn't answer, instead leading Ryusuke towards a door on the right hand wall of the room, close to the corner. Walking past, Ryusuke glanced to his left and saw the silver haired boy studying him closely. He gave a flat look before walking through the door Rhea had opened. Having found himself in a spacious hallway, a set of stairs heading upwards directly to his left, with two elevators in front of him, and a door to his right, Ryusuke waited to allow Rhea past him, at which point she knocked on the door.

"Come in," a voice called from within. Rhea opened the door, entering the room with a spring in her step, gesturing Ryusuke into the room. The walls were painted the same white as the interior of the guild hall, with several paintings and photographs adorning the walls, a large window on the left hand wall letting sunlight into the room. A clock was on the wall directly behind him. His eyes fell upon a middle aged woman sitting at a desk, her back to the far wall. Her wavy auburn hair fell down to her average sized breasts, the fringe clipped back, giving a clear view of her piercing green eyes, covered only by a pair of rectangular, thin-framed glasses. Her face was slightly lined, giving her a tired look, but her kind smile was enough to offset the aging effect, meaning that she seemed to be glowing. She looked up at the two, still smiling at them, and gave Ryusuke an inquisitive look. "So, who exactly are you, young man?"

"Ryusuke Yugure."

"And what is your business here?" she asked with a kind tone, still smiling.

At this point, Rhea interjected. "Ryu-kun want to join the guild!" she beamed.

"Well, Ryusuke, I'm Rosa Caliburn, and I'm the master of this humble guild. If you don't mind me asking, what exactly is your magic?" The smile never left her face as she talked.

The indifferent expression finally left Ryusuke's face as he smirked slightly. "I use Twilight magic, and I'm pretty good with my sword as well." To punctuate his point, he created a ball of magical energy within the palm of his right hand, the energy a dark purple infused with a blinding white, like the light of the sun. The colours swirled within the small ball, mingling and intertwining in a beautiful display. Closing his palm, Ryusuke's face dropped back to its bored expression, the magnificent ball of magic blinking out of existence. Rosa continued smiling at him, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

"Well, congratulations, Ryusuke, you are now the newest member of the Angel's Breath guild. If you would like, there is limited dormitory space on the top floor, for a small fee of three thousand Jewels a month."

"No thanks, I prefer to stay on my own," he replied.

"Well, your living arrangements are entirely your choice, I just felt that I had to extend the offer, after all, I have tried to make this guild as hospitable as possible." Rosa said, standing up from her chair, revealing herself to stand at 5'6", wearing a sky blue, short sleeved top, with a pale, dusted pink shawl over her shoulders. She wore a long, forest green shirt, and a pair of straw sandals with no socks. She had a purple bangle on her left wrist, and appeared to hold herself proudly. "Well, the only thing to do now is ask where you would like your guild mark, and in what colour?"

Ryusuke swept the hair on his left side backwards, and tilted his head to the right to better expose his neck. He pointed to a spot slightly towards the back of his neck on the left side. "Right here, please, in midnight blue."

* * *

Celeste Arturia was bored. She was a thin, yet fit girl, standing at 5'6" with a relatively flat chest and a thin waist. Her sharp, amber eyes exuded confidence, and a pointed nose was above a cocky smirk, gradually degrading into a frown. She kept her blonde hair, which would otherwise fall to her shoulders, in a messy ponytail with a red headband, her bangs framing her face, getting slightly into her eyes and covering her forehead completely. Celeste wore a black tube top with gold trim, a short pair of brown denim shorts, a black belt with a gold buckle, and a pair of black ankle boots. She also had a gold pendant, the shape of a two-handed broadsword around her neck, and it was unseen, but her red guild mark had a place to the left of her navel. The cocky smirk returned to her face as she saw Rhea exit the back door of the guild hall, out into the field behind it. The field itself was around half an acre in area, with several trees dotting the landscape at inconsistent intervals, providing an excellent training ground. The grass was cropped short, and there were several flowerbeds around the edges, full of roses, tulips, dandelions and other assorted blooms. Celeste began running towards the door, only at this point noticing a tall, brown haired boy in a dark grey longcoat follow after Rhea, a bored expression on his face. "Rhea!" Celeste shouted, finally coming to a stop at the girl's location, giving a questioning glance to the boy before turning her attention back to Rhea. "Did you like my surprise?" Celeste grinned.

Rhea simply gave a devious smile, before replying, "Oh, I enjoyed it very much. I think you're slipping, though; a bucket of flour on the door is a bit too obvious, don't you think?"

"Eh, sometimes simplicity is best. By the way, who's this guy?" She gestured towards Ryusuke.

"Oh, this is Ryusuke Yugure, the newest member of the guild. He's a bit conservative, though," she brought a finger to her lip and looked as if she was thinking. "I think he might be scared of people."

Ryusuke sighed before volunteering himself to the conversation. "I am not scared of people, and I can speak for myself, thank you."

Celeste's smirk turned into a frown. "You're far too serious! You need to loosen up and have fun with life!"

"As much as I appreciate the advice, I don't care."

"You're starting to annoy me, idiot," Celeste growled.

"Oh, look, my apathy level just increased."

"If you're not careful, I'm gonna pummel you into the ground!"

At this, Rhea interjected, a cunning smile on her face. "Y'know, Celeste, from what I can tell, Ryusuke's pretty strong, so you might have some trouble with that."

The cocky smirk returned to Celeste's face. "Oh, really? Well, Ryusuke, what do you say we have some fun?!" She held out her right hand as a large, two-handed broadsword, the same shape as her pendant, the handle wrapped in red cloth with a red gem set into the hilt, and the guard shaped like wings, acting as a hand guard, with strange runes on the blade, appeared in it. "Tyrhung!" She swung at Ryusuke, one handed, the sharp edge aimed straight for his neck. In a flash, Ryusuke had drawn out his katana, blocking Celeste's wild swing with the flat side of his blade. Celeste jumped backwards, before holding her sword as if it were a rifle. "Gunblade Magic: Load!" Her sword gained a trigger on the handle, and thirty green ticks appeared along the blade. She ran towards Ryusuke, and thrusting her sword forward, shouted, "Gundblade Magic: Scatter Shot!" Seven small projectiles erupted from the blade in a golden colour, shooting towards Ryusuke. He simply jumped to the side, letting the projectiles sail past him. He noticed that there were only twenty-three ticks left on Tyrhung, but had no time to consider this before Celeste held out her blade. "Gunblade Magic: Artillery Strike!" Celeste pulled the trigger on her sword's handle, and a large ball of golden magic sailed towards Ryusuke at high speed. Rather than dodge, he simply held out his hand and said calmly, "Twilight Guard." A large wall of purple and golden magic, the colours swirling and mingling together, appeared in front of him. Celeste's projectile impacted with the wall and caused a large explosion, shattering Ryusuke's guard and sending him flying, a small burn mark on his face, and a rip in his right coattail.

"Ha! I think you might have misjudged this guy, Rhea, he doesn't seem all too strong after all!" Celeste's smirk had become a grin. "You know, I'd be enjoying this more if you'd actually fight back! Let's see how you like this! Gunblade Magic: Full Salvo!" Eighteen golden projectiles were shot from Tyrhung as Celeste pulled the trigger. They began to converge upon Ryusuke, and he let out a smirk.

"Shadow Sneak." He seemed to disappear for a moment, reappearing behind Celeste, and placing his blade at her throat. "I've been keeping count of how many of those charges you used, given that they seem to indicate how many more shots you can use. And you're out." His smirk grew wider as he saw the Full Salvo projectiles turn around, and appear to home in on his location, shooting toward him and Celeste. "So, Celeste, who blinks first?" A bead of sweat rolled down Celeste's neck, but the wide grin on her face betrayed only enjoyment.

"I take it back. This is awesome!" She turned round and kicked Ryusuke in the gut, sending him sprawling backwards. He landed flat on his back, and the projectiles from Celeste's technique converged upon his location, causing a large explosion. Celeste grinned widely, Tyrhung still held ready. "Come on, I know that didn't finish you!" As the smoke cleared, Celeste's eyes widened slightly as she saw only empty space and a burnt patch of grass where Ryusuke should have been. "Did I kill him?"

Celeste blanched as she heard a voice from directly behind her. "Twilight Spark." A conical, purple and gold attack erupted from the palm of Ryusuke's left palm, which pointed at Celeste's back, getting exponentially wider as it travelled. It didn't travel far, however, before it met resistance, tearing into the back of Celeste's tube top, and burning her back, sending her flying.

Rhea grinned as she saw this. "I love causing chaos," she said to herself, before shouting to Celeste, "so, do you like my surprise?!"

Celeste landed into a back handspring, coming back onto a three-point landing, before flashing Rhea a toothy grin. "I love it!" She rushed at Ryusuke again, holding her sword close to her chest. "Gunblade Magic: Over-"

She was cut off as Ryusuke again appeared behind her, a flash of golden light at his feet. "Twilight Cutter," he stated, a coating of twilight magic surrounding his blade, he slashed at Celeste's right flank, turning the attack into a concussive action, sending Celeste flying into a tree. She was down for a full ten seconds before Ryusuke turned back to Rhea. "Why did you incite that?"

Rhea gave a trademark devious smile, before answering simply, "fun."

"It may have been fun for you, but that hurt. And more importantly, she ripped my coat. An unforgivable crime."

"You really care that much?" Rhea simply grinned at him, "you know there's a clothing repair shop just down the street, right?"

"There's no need, I have eight more, but it's the principle of the matter."

Rhea giggled. "So, should I show you the library upstairs? Or maybe you'd like to see the infirmary, that does seem like a pretty bad burn right there."

"I'll go and check it out myself, I'd prefer to be alone." He effectively ended the conversation by walking away, back into the guild hall. Celeste sidled up alongside Rhea, looking dazed and beaten up, rubbing her forehead.

"What the hell just happened?"

Rhea gave a good-natured laugh at her friend, before replying, "you just got your ass kicked, that's what!"

Celeste growled before her face returned to its usual cocky smirk. "He might have won round one, but I'm gonna get that bastard back! From this moment forward," she raised her voice to a level at which it could be heard in the guild hall, and probably halfway across town. "Ryusuke Yugure, you are my rival! And mark my words, I'm gonna get you!"

* * *

Inside the guild hall, sat in a corner, next to the door leading to the office and upstairs area, a young, silver haired boy sat with a wolf lying on the floor next to him. This 19-year-old was called Styles Kaizu, and he, like everyone else in the guild hall, heard Celeste's declaration. "What's wrong with humans?" he sighed, absentmindedly scratching the wolf behind the ears. Styles stood at 5'10" tall, with long, shaggy silver hair, coming down to a level with his chin, with one bang hanging over his left eye. His eyes were silver and emotionless, his ears pointed and his canines sharp. His guild mark was located in black on the right side of his neck, and as slash-like scar adorned his left cheek. He had an athletic build, and a silver full moon tattoo on his right arm. He wore a black hooded jacket, had a black bandana over his mouth, and a pair of black wireless headphones around his neck. He had a black t-shirt on his torso, a pair of white skinny jeans, black slip-on vans and a red amulet around his neck. His ears had silver studs in them, his hands had black fingerless gloves, and a backpack was on the floor next to him and the wolf. This wolf was named Nina, and was two times the size of an average German Shepherd, with pitch-black fur and yellow eyes. Currently, she was asleep. Styles turned his attention to the figure seemingly walking straight towards him, giving a flat stare as he approached. Ryusuke turned towards the door, hoping to check out the library. He stopped, level with Styles, and turned to face the boy.

"Is there a reason you appear to be staring at me?" Ryusuke asked, standard bored look to his face.

"I'm observing." Styles replied.

"Why?"

"Because you're a strange human."

"You say that as if it's supposed to make some kind of logical sense."

"It does. I'm impressed by how you were able to rile up that loud-mouthed idiot. And impressing me isn't easy. I'm Styles Kaizu."

"Whatever. She's just short-tempered. And Ryusuke Yugure."

"You seem tainted, even if it is only a little bit."

"I'm going to walk away now. Goodbye."

Styles sighed again. "What's wrong with humans?"

* * *

"Weirdo," Ryusuke muttered, climbing up the stairs. He reached the top, and found an open doorway to the left of a closed door, and, peeking through the open doorway, found a room lined with high bookcases, all full of books. There were signs above each bookcase, giving the classification and genre of the books in that case. There were couches, of the same design as the ones downstairs, arranged in a square pattern around the room, with four sets of seating in the cosy room, each set consisting of a corner unit, a three-seater and two-seater. He walked over to a bookcase with a sign above it reading 'fiction – fantasy', took a book, and sat down with his back to a window. He took a look around, and saw a couple of pictures hanging on empty wall space, and the wall that was showing was painted white, the same as the rest of the guild hall. "What is with all the white in this place?" he muttered under his breath, before noticing a man walking towards him, standing at 6'2" with a lean, fit build and broad shoulders. His face was slightly wrinkled, with an aquiline nose and strong jaw, with high cheekbones. He was dark skinned, and looked slightly rugged, with golden eyes, and close-cropped brown hair matching his rugged eyebrows. His face was accentuated with a five-o' clock shadow with a connecting moustache, however, he had a burn mark on his left cheek. Although not visible at this point in time, his guild mark was printed on his right pectoral muscle in navy blue. He wore a white, button down shirt with grey pinstripes, left untucked, with the top two buttons left undone. His maroon slim-cut pants were held up by a black leather belt with a silver buckle, and dark brown, casual ankle boots were on his feet. A black blazer with white pinstripes covered his shirt, and his head was adorned with a tilted grey fedora, and he had a cigarette hanging from his mouth. He sat across from Ryusuke, taking a long drag of his cigarette before speaking.

"Hey there," he spoke in a gruff, heavily accented voice, "I don't think I've seen you around here before, mon ami."

"That's because you haven't," Ryusuke sighed, flipping a page in his book.

"The names Alain Baz Sedgwick, but you can call me Baz for short," he said, a suave smile on his face.

"Ryusuke Yugure."

"So, you new here?"

"Take a guess," Ryusuke sighed.

"Whoa, there, friend, no need to get so snippy!" He took another long drag of his cigarette.

Ryusuke raised an eyebrow. "Are you allowed to smoke in here?"

Baz laughed. "Ha! What the master doesn't know won't hurt her, mon ami. After all, smoking, food, women, a good scotch; they're all my raison d'etre!"

"Seems like a shallow existence."

"Heh, I just try to have fun, if you think that's shallow, then your opinion is your choice." He stubbed out his cigarette in a pocket ashtray he produced, grabbing his packet and pulling out a new cigarette, lighting it with a zippo lighter. He held the packet out to Ryusuke. "Want one?"

"Sure," he replied, taking the offered cigarette, putting it in his mouth and accepting the offered flame. He took a long draw before sighing. "It's been a long time since I've enjoyed one of these."

"I only smoke the best," Baz smiled.

A dirty-blonde girl, as of yet unnoticed by the two males, sniffed the air and cringed. One person smoking, that she could stand. But two people polluting the otherwise clean air of the library, her sanctuary? Unacceptable. This girl was Wisteria Eneta Solari, an S-class mage, and arguably one of the most powerful in the guild. She was a reserved girl, often retreating to the library for peace and quiet. The 19 year old was stunningly beautiful, her dirty blonde hair worn loose, and extending all the way down to her ankles. She wore a black beanie, and had black headphones over her ears, currently playing a song called The Guillotine. She had striking purple eyes, with her bangs covering the left one. Standing at 5'11", Wisteria was surprisingly tall, and had a skinny but curvy figure. She had a black and white striped, long sleeved top on her upper body, her legs adorned with a pair of ripped jeans and dark red rain boots. She also wore a pair of yin-yang earrings, and a black, white and purple braided bracelet. "Would you two please stop polluting the air in here?"

Baz gave a disarming, cool smile to the girl. "Hey, calm down Wisteria, nothing goes better with fine literature than a smoke and a tumbler of fine scotch!"

Ryusuke gave a sidewards glance and said, "can I get in on that scotch?"

"Why, of course, mon ami! Let me get the bottle from downstairs!"

Wisteria watched Baz leave, before turning to Ryusuke. "Who the hell are you?"

"My, aren't you cheery?" Ryusuke deadpanned.

"You didn't answer my question," she growled.

"Ryusuke Yugure. Twilight mage, disliker of too much conversation, and the massive amount of veritable chatterboxes there seems to be in this guild is beginning to irritate me."

Wisteria turned away again. "Twilight magic? That's really rare."

"Thank you for this new information. I'll be sure to consider it next time I'm not caring," Ryusuke replied, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Wisteria Eneta Solari. Pleased to meet you."

"Whatever, I'm leaving now." Ryusuke put his book down on the table before walking out of the room, flicking his cigarette out of the open window as he did so.

* * *

Baz approached the bar, cigarette hanging from his mouth. "Well hey there, Kimi dear, since you're already behind the bar, so long as it's not too much trouble, would you mind handing me that fine bottle of 40-year scotch on the shelf there?"

Kimi turned and smiled at Baz. "Oh, hey Baz! Of course, I'll grab it for you now." She grabbed the bottle of scotch Baz had pointed at, as well as two glasses, and placed them down on the bar.

"Damn, the glasses! I always forget about those… Many thanks, ma ami."

Ryusuke took a seat next to where Baz was standing and threw some Jewels in front of the man. "There, that should cover it."

Baz looked bemused at this, but pocketed the money nonetheless. "And here I thought you were upstairs. What happened, mon ami, Wisteria run you out of town?"

"No, I'm trying to escape conversation, and it isn't working." He poured himself a glass from the scotch bottle, and took a swig. "I was half expecting you to refuse that money, you know."

Baz chuckled. "Nah, a man such as yourself, you wouldn't have taken that. Still, I wouldn't get any ideas in your head, I'm the biggest man around here, and I'd like to challenge you to prove otherwise!"

"Fascinating," Ryusuke remarked in mock surprise.

"What is?"

"I didn't think I could care less, but it appears I've exceeded my own expectations."

Baz gave a belly laugh this time. "Ah, you're funny, kid. I think you'll fit in just fine here."

Ryusuke sighed. "I'm not a kid."

"Kid, I'm 45, you're a kid to me."

Ryusuke was pulled from the conversation by a cocky, decidedly feminine voice. "Ryusuke!" He turned, to find Celeste rushing towards him, Tyrhung in hand, bellowing a fierce war cry.

"Celeste, I am not interested in being your rival, especially if it means you're going to shout loud enough to cause avalanches five hundred miles away." Ryusuke's eyes were slightly drooped, and he still looked incredibly bored, but there was a hint of slight annoyance in his eyes.

Celeste gave a cocky grin, before remarking, "Y'know, I might not be able to beat you with magic, but I'm your better at swordplay!"

"Keep dreaming, little girl."

Celeste growled, and swung Tyrhung aggressively at Ryusuke's head. He ducked under the swing, his dodge having the undesirable effect of Tyrhung colliding with the bottle of scotch, shattering the glass and spilling Scotch everywhere. Baz suddenly looked incredibly morose, and dropped to his knees.

"No! Ah, amour, I hardly knew ye; my only wish… to have been able to experience more of you."

Ryusuke sweatdropped. "Um… I'll buy you a new one, okay?"

Baz's face lit up, but Celeste couldn't care less, and charged the now standing Ryusuke. "I am not a little girl!" She swung Tyrhung, this time rewarded with the familiar clang of steel on steel, as she tried to push Ryusuke into the bar. He pushed off, Manoeuvring around Celeste. She attacked again, giving Ryusuke the opportunity to riposte into a guarded position, allowing him to block Celeste's next strike. Celeste gave a quick glance over to the door leading upstairs, and gave her usual cocky grin, before being punished for her lapse in concentration by Ryusuke striking across her face.

"You're not winning this one, I don't care how strong you think you are!"

Ryusuke merely sighed, feeling fatigued from performing this action so much that day. "You're obviously not taking me seriously, so you're not going to win."

"Ha! Of course I'm taking you seriously, after all, you're so much fun!" Contrary to her words, Celeste always had a hard time taking fights seriously. However, she was enjoying the fight, and, unknown to Ryusuke, she had a master plan that didn't involve winning. She slowly manoeuvred herself backwards towards the corner of the room Styles currently occupied, a dead look in his eyes as he watched Celeste attempt to taunt Ryusuke, with an expression on his face that could be close to disgust.

"What's wrong with humans?" Styles sighed, before grabbing his backpack. "Come on, Nina, let's go before you get a destroyed table and a lump of idiot on top of you." He walked away, Nina in tow.

"Come on, you aren't doing anything to me! What happened to you being so strong, hmm? I could push forward and beat you right now!"

Ryusuke said nothing and swung lazily. Celeste dodged it, stabbing at his face. Riposting, he let loose on a massive horizontal slash, which was, not unexpectedly, dodged. What was unexpected, however, was the tall girl with insanely long blonde hair stood behind Celeste… and Ryusuke's sword slicing through half of her hair, cutting one half of it to be level with her backside.

Celeste's cocky grin radiated smugness. "See ya!" she whispered, running away as quickly as she could. Meanwhile, Wisteria turned, her eyes glowing white, looking positively furious. Ryusuke, though slightly fearful, didn't show it. He'd been outsmarted, given acute tunnel vision by the irritating pest that was Celeste, and made a mistake – exactly what Celeste had planned. He wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of seeing his fear.

"Ah, Wisteria, I apologise. Entirely my fault, I wasn't watching where I was cutting, I was just trying to stop Celeste from cutting me to pieces, I don't think she cares if I fight back or not, she just wants to win at this point. Anyway, I was acting proactively, and I wasn't really paying enough attention. Although, If it's any consolation, at least now there's no danger of you stepping on your hair! And, to be honest, I think it would look better a little shorter." Ryusuke, keeping his calm face, observed Wisteria's face for any signs of change. He was good at reading people, perceptive and intelligent, and he knew the times he couldn't talk his way out of a situation. This was not one of them. He didn't want a fight, especially with Wisteria, she seemed a little unstable, and, strong though he was, he was unsure of whether he could take her. Thankfully she turned away, and began walking menacingly towards Celeste.

"Learn to pay more attention to your surroundings," came the cold command. Ryusuke sighed in relief, contemplating returning to his hotel and ending this chore of a day. Before that, entertainment. He watched as Celeste was punched into a wall, groaning as her head impacted the hard plasterboard. Wisteria promptly walked out of the front doors, and, unbeknownst to anyone, she had a small smile on her face.

"How the hell did you do that?" Celeste moaned, eliciting a smirk from Ryusuke as he watched her unsuccessfully try to pick herself out of the wall.

* * *

Rosa stepped into the guild hall at the same time Rhea walked into the front door, a devious smile not once leaving her face. Rosa, meanwhile, was mystified. She directed her question at Ryusuke, the nearest guild member. "What exactly happened here?" She gestured at several upturned tables, and Celeste being pried out of the wall by a laughing Rhea.

"Oh, Master. Well, if I were to say Celeste…" Ryusuke began with a questioning inflection.

Rosa sighed and massaged her forehead, a small vein showing on it. "That would explain it all." The guild master walked away, as Rhea sidled up to Ryusuke, devious smile still upon her face.

"What are you up to, Rhea?" he questioned.

"Oh, nothing," she replied, trying and failing to look innocent. "My, my, Ryu-kun, seems like you've made quite the mess in here, you and Celeste. What happened?"

Ryusuke walked away, replying as he did so, "your friend is an idiot."

Rhea watched him leave the guild hall, smile still upon her face. She turned to a now recovered Celeste, her smirk restored. "So, Rhea, did you do it?"

"Piece of cake. Now for the matter of payment?"

Celeste put her hand on her heart, and recited, "I, Celeste Arturia, do swear not to enact any pranks or practical jokes, no matter how small, upon you, Rhea Yokoshima, for the next thirty days, on pain of not only being sold out to Ryusuke, but also having your foot up my ass. God, this is gonna be hard, this better piss him off!"

Rhea chuckled. "Don't worry, I'm sure his reaction will be satisfactory."

* * *

Ryusuke walked through the front door of his hotel room, leading into a small foyer with a small pillar table. He dropped the keys on it, before glancing suspiciously at the door leading into the room itself. He could have sworn he left it closed. Chalking it up to the actions of hotel cleaners, he opened the door, walking through it cautiously. The face full of flour he received, covering his coat and hair in the ingredient, caused an angry cough. For the first time in a long time, a growl managed to escape from Ryusuke's throat. "Rhea, Celeste, I know this was you, and tomorrow, you die," he swore, skulking into the bathroom for a shower.

* * *

Celeste was pleased with her day. It had hit a few snags, yes, but she knew that she had succeeded in her prank, and Ryusuke would be pissed off. Well, that's what happens when you mess with Celeste Arturia! A smug look on her face, she opened her door, intending to get a good night's sleep, so she could be ready to laugh at Ryusuke's rage the next day. Imagining him attacking her in a rage, only to be put down and forced to grovel, Celeste chuckled, her slight laugh overshadowing the noise of a bucket falling from the top of the door, meaning that she didn't realise she was about to be covered with flour until she was. She growled, visibly shaking with rage. "Rhea…" her voice suddenly gained several decibels, "I'm gonna freakin' get you for this!"

* * *

AN: Good? Bad? Average? Tell me your thoughts, guys, I can't improve without feedback, after all. I'm gonna introduce the rest of the OCs in the next couple of chapters, and then I'll get onto some missions, and proper combat, not just Celeste being… well, Celeste. Oh, and I've also decided that Celeste is my new spirit animal, she is wonderful to write, even if it is only for a brief appearance. Anyway, for all the OCs that have turned up, I hope I've got their personalities right! Anywho, it's like 4 in the morning for me and I have to be up at 9, so I'll be signing off now.


	3. Sports, Destruction and Brawls

AN: Hey guys! I'm getting these up pretty quickly, huh? I'm really getting into the flow of this story, and I have a lot of plot ideas, especially with all these awesome characters you guys have given me! Unfortunately, I have what I consider to be a full quota, so I'm no longer taking OCs, but hey, you can still enjoy the story! If your OC hasn't been introduced yet, don't worry about it, they'll turn up soon.

Thanks to the reviewers of the last chapter: Lexlovesya, Dreadburner94, FrozenBlast13, M-anonymous, LightandDarkHeart, Lightningpanda, MyDearWatson and SaiyaStyles.

And hey, I was thinking, you get all these guidebooks telling you stuff that wasn't in the actual story, so I'm occasionally gonna do some liner notes.

Here goes: Rhea was originally some random woman who no-one would ever see again, literally just intended to tell Ryusuke about the guild. Then as I wrote her a huge personality sparked into life and I just couldn't abandon her as a character. She only exists because my mind wanders when I write. Also, Ryusuke speaks in a Northern English accent, kinda Lancastrian. He sounds a bit like Christopher Eccleston, only without all the gravitas.

Anyhow, onto chapter 2!

(Oh, and I don't own Fairy Tail. It belongs to Hiro Mashima.)

* * *

Credits (In order of appearance):

Florence Lancaster – Queen JJ

Anna Sedgwick – Cat the Alien

Aster Eistir – MyDearWatson

Eiko Haverj – Lightningpanda

Lucina Cypher – ManhattanTheory

Dean Arc – PrinceofTheMatrix88

* * *

Sports, destruction and brawls

The intense midday sun was beating down on her, and she let out a sigh. Florence Lancaster was contented with sitting in a lawn chair out the back of the guild hall, enjoying the sunlight. This 17 year old stood at 5'6", and had naturally curly black hair cascading freely to her shoulders. It was parted to the right, and incredibly thick, giving off the slight appearance of a wild mane. Her eyes were almond shaped and a beautiful shade of hazel - appearing to be golden with flecks of brown and green intermingling with the dominant colour. Her complexion was brown and her figure athletic, however, she was curvy around the hip and waist area, with a B-cup chest. She had a heart shaped face, with slightly pouty, seemingly full lips. She was wearing an elbow length, crop white shirt over a brown sleeveless vest, dark blue shorts, a pair of grey OTK socks underneath a pair of brown, low-heeled boots, and had a feather earring in her right ear. Her sunbathing session was interrupted, however, when she heard a calm, disinterested voice call at something she couldn't see.

"Rhea, get back here so I can kill you." Ryusuke stood at the door, his face covered in flour, a scowl on his face. Rhea, meanwhile, was retreating leisurely towards Florence, laughing her ass off.

"Oh my god… that was freakin' hilarious! I can't believe you fell for the same trick twice, Ryu-kun! You're so gullible!"

Ryusuke sighed, which was quickly becoming a reflex action for him, and his face resumed its usual bored expression. "I didn't fall for anything, Rhea; you said hello, I turned around and you threw a bag of flour at my face."

Rhea laughed even harder. "I know! That was great! Oh, god, your face!"

"Yes, it is covered in flour. Laugh now, I shall take my revenge."

At this point, Florence made her presence known. "Rhea, what's going on?"

Rhea still couldn't control her laughter, so Ryusuke answered for her. "Apparently, Rhea finds it funny to give my face an impromptu acquaintanceship with flour."

At this, Rhea simply collapsed on the floor, unable to support herself any longer. Ryusuke sighed. Florence picked up a washcloth from the small table beside her, of which there were similar sets in a line of chairs, positioned in-between six chairs that sat on a small paved area, and threw it at Ryusuke. "Here you go, clean yourself up. Might I ask your name?" She favoured him with a small smile.

"Ryusuke Yugure. You?"

Florence feigned surprise. "My, you haven't heard of me? My name is Florence Lancaster, and I am the Lightning Queen!"

Ryusuke finished wiping his face, it now having returned to actually being visible rather than covered in white. "Wonderful," he deadpanned, before chucking the washcloth back to Florence, "well, Your Highness, thanks for the help."

Florence smiled again. "It's no problem, but just remember who you're addressing next time!"

Ryusuke sighed, before sticking his right elbow into the empty space behind him. Rhea suddenly became visible to him and Florence, her nose bloodied, and the prone figure of her that had been on the floor having disappeared from view. "Either you're not paying attention, or your illusion magic is really bad. Who laughs that much?"

"You win this round, Yugure," Rhea smiled, "but I think I'm still winning the game." She wandered back into the guild hall, passing two figures as she did so. Baz and his daughter Anna stepped outside.

Baz's daughter, Anna Sedgwick, was a twenty-three year old, doe-eyed beauty. She stood level with Ryusuke at 5'11", with a boyish figure, flat chest and slender build. She had inherited her father's golden eyes and high cheekbones, but also had long eyelashes, and was currently wearing a winsome smile. Her jawline was shaped like an inverse pentagon and attached to a slender neck. Her hair, cut in a medium pixie cut, was pale blonde with coral pink highlights; this was clearly a dye-job, however, as it was in direct contrast to her brown eyebrows. Across the fingers of her left hand, in pale blue, was her guild mark. Currently, she was wearing a mint blue shift dress with long sleeves and a white baby-fall collar, along with black low-heeled boots with laces and peacock feather earrings.

"Ryusuke, why did you do that to Rhea?" she said, in a gentle, compassionate tone.

"Retribution." Ryusuke replied simply, wiping his nose with his thumb.

Baz laughed heartily at this, the ever-present cigarette somehow staying in his mouth. "Ah, mon ami, you're far too wound up. You need to get less serious!"

Ryusuke smirked. "What, would you prefer I be more like Celeste?"

Anna's face lit up in horror, coming to a sudden realisation. "Ah, that reminds me, I promised Celeste I'd help her clean up her room! Something about flour…" With this, she ran off, shouting, "I'm sorry, papa!"

Ryusuke chuckled. "Aw, how cute, _papa."_

Baz's face lit up. "Ah, I'm so happy that you've come to see me as a father figure already! This is a happy day, my second child!"

A voice pierced the air, originating from the door. "Yeah, Baz, now you can shirk the responsibility of two children rather than one!"

The three people present turned to the source of the voice, finding a girl of around eighteen wearing a playful smirk standing in front of the door. She was 5'7" tall, and her silver hair, that would otherwise reach her shoulders, was kept in a messy ponytail, swept to the left with a few pieces of her bangs falling into her teal eyes. She was toned and athletic, with a small bust and pronounced hips. Her skin was a light tan, and her guild mark was adorning the top of her right hand, with a teal colouration. She wore a pair of short, black denim shorts, along with a white leather belt and short black combat boots. Clothing her torso was a teal tank top, with white wings printed on the back. There was a silver, star shaped stud in each of her earlobes, and three small, black loops at the top of her left ear, with two on her right.

"Ah, Aster, you wound me so!" said Baz, clutching his heart in mock agony.

Aster simply gave another playful smirk, whilst shielding her eyes from the sun. "Whatever, so who's tall, dark and serious over there?"

Baz gave a cool smile. "Oh that's Ryusuke Yugure, soon to be Sedgwick, though."

Ryusuke gave a sweatdrop. "Jeez, you act like I'm marrying your daughter, or something."

"You aren't man enough to be with my daughter! You'd have to be a bigger man than me, and we both know that isn't true." He took a long drag of his cigarette.

"You see this empty space of air in front of me?" Ryusuke, to punctuate his point, gestured in front of him. "This represents all the shits I give." He turned to Aster. "As the old man said, Ryusuke Yugure."

"Aster Eistir, nice to meet you! So, you play any games?" Aster grinned.

Florence spoke up, a cheerful smile on her face. "Hey Aster!"

"Oh, hi Florence! I didn't notice you there, you're talking a lot less than usual."

"I know, but the conversation didn't really interest me. Still, someone interesting is here, so we can actually have a conversation rather than listen to these two babble on!" Florence grinned.

Ryusuke sighed. "Right, here, you know."

Aster turned to face him, still grinning. "So, Ryusuke, you know how to play baseball?"

Ryusuke sighed. "Yes, but I don't like it."

Aster gave a contemplative look. "Well, what do you like?"

"Being left alone."

It was Aster's turn to sigh, before returning to her grin. "I mean games, silly!"

"Chess."

"Something athletic!"

Ryusuke sighed again. "Soccer."

Aster lit up. "Oh, I love that game!"

"You love anything that's a sport," Florence interjected.

"Hush, you. So, Ryusuke, wanna play?"

Ryusuke shook his head. "Nope."

Aster put on a playful smirk, before remarking, "what, are you afraid I'll beat you?!"

"No, not particularly."

"I think you are! Chicken!" Aster began making clucking noises, eliciting another sigh from Ryusuke.

"Fine, I'll play. Do you have a ball?"

Aster suddenly ran away, and Ryusuke sighed. _'I should probably get my lungs checked out, all this exhaling can't be good for my health…'_

* * *

Ryusuke placed his coat down on the grass, before making 8 precise, 1 yard paces and dropping the short, black leather jacket Aster had handed him on the ground. "That'll do."

"Okay then, Ryusuke, here's how it works. Penalty shootout! We make a spot twelve paces from the goal, and take turns five times to shoot from it whilst the other person is-" Aster was abruptly stopped by an interruption from Ryusuke.

"I know how it works, let's just get on with it."

"Alright then, I'll take the first one!" Aster dug her heel into the ground twelve paces from the makeshift goal, placing the ball down on the small indent she had created. Amused, Florence and Baz looked on, with Florence vocalising her support.

"Go Aster! Kick his ass!"

Aster grinned, as Ryusuke spread himself out, looking as big as possible. She took a short run-up, striking the ball with the side of her right foot, sending it low to Ryusuke's left. The boy dived low in the correct direction, and with the ball lacking power, he was easily able to reach it, and tip it away.

"Aw, damn it!" Aster swore, kicking the ground in front of her. Ryusuke gained a smug smirk, and collected the ball before walking out to the DIY penalty spot. Aster took her place in the middle of the two jackets acting as goalposts, jumping around, shifting her feet side to side as she did so. Ryusuke took a slightly longer run-up, stuttering just before he reached the ball. Aster shifted to her left, and so Ryusuke wrapped his right foot around the ball, sending it to Aster's right, beyond the smaller girl's reach, skimming past his own jacket, only just on the correct side.

From there, Aster sent Ryusuke the wrong way with her second shot, before Ryusuke put one straight through the middle as Aster dived to her right. Aster then shot to Ryusuke's right, and although he dived the correct way, the ball was beyond his reach. After that, Ryusuke fired one with incredible power to her left, and she wasn't quick enough to reach it. For her fourth penalty, Aster mirrored Ryusuke's tactic, and shot straight through the middle, whilst Ryusuke fell to his left. He then sent Aster the wrong way, firing one low.

"Well, Aster, if I make a save, I win. And more importantly, I can leave."

Aster gave a cocky grin. "There's no way you're stopping this!" She then gave the ball a firm drive to Ryusuke's left, looking to be out of reach. He took a step to his left, before launching himself into the path of the ball. He stretched his arms out fully, his fingertips just reaching the ball, and turning it around the 'post'. The only indication he was pleased with his victory was a small smile, which quickly dropped as he picked himself up, collecting his coat before walking away.

"Been a pleasure," he waved.

* * *

"Wisteria, could I please talk to you for a moment?" Wisteria, sat in the library, turned to see Rosa, a kind smile on her face. She removed her headphones, placing them around her neck.

"What do you need, master?"

"There is a particular mission request, it seems incredibly mysterious, and no guild has taken it yet. Apparently, locals of Oshibana Town have heard strange noises at night, seemingly originating from a temple a little ways out of the town. If it's not too much trouble, I'd like for you to go and investigate the occurrence. Some have described the noises as a banshee's wailing, and I thought it best to be safe and send someone well equipped to deal with strong threats."

"Of course, master. I'll leave right away."

Rosa continued smiling. "Thank you, Wisteria; I knew I could count on you."

* * *

Ryusuke didn't know how he'd been roped into this. He was truly in hell. A simple, innocent request was all it was. Rhea had offered to buy him dinner, as means of an apology for the massive amounts of flour he had been forced to wring out of his hair over the past twelve hours. He wasn't one to turn down free food, or free beer, so he gladly agreed to the excursion. What a mistake that had been. What he hadn't been informed of was that Celeste would also be tagging along, and with the two being 'rivals', she was eager to challenge Ryusuke to a rematch. He refused, and was promptly punched to the ground anyway. He could feel the headache coming on before the three even left the guild hall, and it was made even worse by what was apparently half of the guild deciding to join them. The incredibly hyperactive boy, and the rather dark, creepy girl sat at his table weren't helping matters at all.

The boy was called Eiko Haverj, a seventeen year old with red, spiky, neck length hair swept to the right. For some reason, he had tape on his nose, taking attention away from his slanted, auburn-like eyes, and he was slender, yet muscular, standing at 6'1". His honey-tan skin was decorated with strange, black tattoos on his wrists, extending halfway to his elbows. He was wearing a black, sleeveless hooded shirt, dark green skinny jeans stitched at the kneecaps, red straps criss-crossing on his hips, a black and red pouch on his left hip carrying a music player, and white, skull-like headphones around his neck. What irritated Ryusuke, however, was his ADHD, which meant he was incredibly giddy, and he was bouncing around on his seat. After taking a swig of his beer, Ryusuke finally spoke up.

"Are you incapable of sitting still?"

Eiko spoke quickly, his hyperactivity reflected in his voice. "Of course not, I just feel really energetic! Ooh, pool!" He ran over to a pool table, currently occupied only by Aster, who was apparently taking challengers. She had tried desperately to get Ryusuke to compete against her, but he had flat-out refused. He enjoyed the game, but he was busy. The burger came first. He took a large bite from the huge, meat laden bun, stacked high with bacon, cheese and beef, and gave an involuntary shudder when he heard the girl across from him speak.

"I wonder… is your blood sweet or bitter?" This girl was Lucina Cypher, and Ryusuke found her to be incredibly creepy. Her skin was incredibly pale, and she stood at 5'8", was quite slender, and had black, shoulder-length hair with red ribbons in it. She had grey eyes, and her teeth were disturbingly sharp.

"Keep wondering, you're not finding out," came Ryusuke's deadpan reply, his eyes shifting around the room, so that he could perhaps find himself a more comfortable atmosphere.

Lucina put on a cheerful smile, and replied, "aw, come on, I'm only kidding!"

At this, a gruff voice sounded from behind the girl. "Yeah, Lu, because I'm absolutely sure that everyone finds comments about the taste of their own blood absolutely hilarious."

Ryusuke's gaze travelled upward to find a 19-year old man by the name of Dean Arc. He was 5'11" tall, and had ice blue eyes shaped like almonds. His hair was dark brown, and messy, but controlled. It fell just above his shoulders at the back, and just above his eyes at the front, swept to the right. He was lean and muscular, with tanned skin, and the skin on his arm was marred by multiple scars. Dean was wearing a black shirt under a cream coloured jacket with a black hood. He had on black boots, with loose black jeans held up with a studded silver belt. Around his neck was a silver angel wings pendant.

Lucina gave a childish smile to Dean. "But it's funny!"

"Yes, positively hilarious," said Ryusuke, sighing all the while.

Dean wiped his nose with his thumb. "Whatever. I don't really care," he said, before walking away.

"Pleasant individual," Ryusuke commented, his voice as dry as the Sahara.

"I bet he'd taste bitter!" Lucina still wore a cheerful smile, unnerving Ryusuke all the more.

"Lucina, you really need to work on your humour…"

She gave a small 'hmph' before picking up a black, leather bound book marked with a pentagram on the cover, standing up and beginning to walk away. A black, bat shaped necklace thumped against her neck as she walked, her black, gothic Lolita dress swishing slightly as she walked.

Ryusuke sighed contentedly. "At last, peace and bloody quiet…"

* * *

Ryusuke couldn't enjoy the peace for long, however, before a fight inevitably broke out. He was munching on the last vestiges of his dinner when the flying figure of Styles Kaizu went flying through his table, shattering it. Ryusuke's face dropped as he sighed. This was going to be a long night.

"Say that again, asshole!" came the challenge from Celeste, one fist still raised. Styles picked himself up from the remains of the table, a large red mark, vaguely resembling the shape of Celeste's fist, upon his left cheek.

"You're far too arrogant, considering how much of an idiot you are." Styles was chewing on the wire of his headphones, and, as usual, had no emotion to his voice.

"You take that back, you animalistic bastard! You should be living in the goddamn woods!" Celeste was pointing a finger at Styles, her expression showing rage.

Styles, however, took this as a compliment. "Thanks, idiot. I suppose you have some semblance of a brain in there."

Kimi ran over to her brother, worry etched onto her face. "Styles, are you okay?!"

She was wearing a short black dress, the skirt having frills in it. Her short jacket was purple, and she wore black socks and converse, as well as carrying a red, stitched together leather doll with black button eyes. Her figure was voluptuous, and her bust large. She also had a black full moon tattoo on her left arm, and her guild mark was printed on the left side of her abdomen in white.

"I'm fine. No thanks to the idiot," he replied.

"Hey, shut your mouth, Styles, unless you want another knuckle sandwich!" Celeste shouted, raising a fist threateningly.

Ryusuke spoke up. "Yeah, no, it's fine, not like I was using that table or anything."

"You shut up! It's your own fault for being in the way!"

Ryusuke sighed. He wasn't sure exactly what was wrong with Celeste, but he was sure she had some form of psychological problem. Styles, meanwhile, turned his head slightly and spoke.

"Sorry." His voice and eyes were still dead, and he walked away from the scene, muttering to himself. "What's wrong with humans?"

* * *

The headache was in full swing now. Celeste's anger carried over to everyone trying to interact with her, and it wasn't exactly pretty, as even an offhand remark could set her back off. Dean, despite his rank of S-class, had been quite literally punched out of the door. Aster, meanwhile, had taken advantage of Celeste's anger, and persuaded her to spar with her. Of course, Celeste took the word 'spar' to mean 'brawl', and was currently in the process of destroying the room. It didn't help that around eight random mages had decided to get involved, including Eiko, who was, in reality, just running around the bar and flipping tables. Ryusuke, unable to take this kind of madness for much longer, had turned to hard liquor, sitting at the bar in lieu of one of the many destroyed tables. The barman looked shocked, to say the least.

"My boss is gonna kill me."

"You really wanna get in there, pal?" Ryusuke asked, slurring his words slightly. He inwardly groaned as he saw a guffawing Rhea approach him.

"Oh, this is freakin' hilarious! It's times like this I love this guild!" she said, seeming to recover from her laughing fit.

"This is your fault, isn't it?" Ryusuke asked, trying to keep his voice as deadpan as possible, straining it slightly.

"For once, no. And what the hell's wrong with you? Your face is really red."

Ryusuke found himself stuck between a rock and a hard place. Normally, he just said what he was thinking, or didn't even think before speaking. But now was different. He really didn't want to admit he was drunk, mainly because of the torturous hell Rhea would put him through trying to figure out just what she could get him to do. However, his thoughts were irrational, and his mind a swirling vortex of entropy. He had only one other response and it would be humiliating, and very difficult to explain in the morning. Logically, he should have just told the truth, eliminating the need for awkwardness. How astute, then, that logic seemed to have left the building.

"Well, um, I really like you and talking to you is making me blush." He hadn't even finished slurring out his sentence before Rhea's laughter resumed, louder than ever.

"Oh my god! You are really wasted! Bahaha, to think you'd be capable of emotion! Ah, Ryu-kun, you're a funny guy."

Ryusuke sounded upset at this. "You know, that's quite hurtful."

"You're different drunk."

"Yeah, and you're a bitch. Now piss off."

Rhea gained a playful smirk. "My, my, Ryu-kun, what happened to really liking me?"

"That was a stupid lie because I didn't want you to know I was drunk."

"What a stupid thing to say."

"I think I've killed my brain."

Rhea's smirk became devious as she produced a leaflet from her pocket, placing it in front of Ryusuke. "You're coming with us."

He examined the paper, finding it to advertise an S-class mission, with a hefty reward of four million Jewels. In his current state, he couldn't really organise the information in his head, but he picked up something about Clover Town, mountains and a Blizzardvern nest. All of a sudden, he found himself remembering Rhea's words.

"You said 'us'. Who else is going?"

Her smirk remained. "Celeste and Aster."

Ryusuke pondered this information for a moment. Had he been sober, he would have refused instantly. He wanted nothing to do with those two, especially with Aster's seeming obsession with competition and Celeste's… personality. However, he was not sober. In fact, to his mind now, it sounded like a good idea, an opportunity to actually make friends, rather than being the lone wolf all the time. Contrary to popular belief, he did actually enjoy having friends, even if he wasn't a very social person. His brain just disregarded the fact that he didn't really want to be friends with Celeste. At least the other two were mostly agreeable, and sane. At least, that would be how he would justify his decision.

"Sure, I'll go." For the first time since they'd met, Ryusuke gave Rhea a genuine smile. It might have been drunken and crooked, but she'd take it.

* * *

"Kimi, let's go." Styles walked past his sister, shoving a piece of paper into her hands. She examined it, finding it to be a mission request. The mission was in Acalypha town, and so the two would have to leave at that moment to get there the next afternoon.

"But Styles, would it not be easier to go tomorrow?" Kimi asked, confusion etched on her face.

"Read it," he growled. His voice betrayed anger, a rarity with the boy. She read the entire mission description, and realised why her brother was so angry. Illegal hunters had been terrorising the local merchant guild, Love & Lucky, and had been killing local wildlife. Styles, having been brought up by wolves, had an affinity with nature, and loved animals. Kimi understood his rage, and followed after him and Nina.

"Styles, what are you going to do when we get there? It says that they want the hunters turned into the authorities."

Styles growled again, scratching Nina behind the ears in an attempt to calm himself down. "I don't care what those stupid humans want; I'm going to kill these bastards, whether they like it or not."

* * *

Celeste: I've been instructed by my author to tell you to go and check out dreadburner94's Undine's Cove! Oh, and Thunder Stone by MyDearWatson. Can I get paid now?

Me: Yeah, whatever. *throws money at her* Ugh, writing this story is going to give me cancer. I smoke far too much while I'm writing. So, good, bad, average? Give me your thoughts! Reviews make a happy author, and constructive criticism makes me happier, since it helps me to improve as an author! Yeah, if you don't like soccer, I apologise, but I felt the need to show it. Because Aster. And Ryusuke's mad skills. He's not one of those people who's good at everything, people just choose to compete with him at things he's good at. Anyhow, I hope I got all the characters down, and don't worry if you feel your character isn't getting enough screen time, I've been writing the last chapters in third person close with Ryusuke for a good reason; as the newcomer to the guild, I felt that writing close to his viewpoint would help introduce you guys to the guild and the characters as well. So yeah, next chapter we get missions, and more introductions! Oh, and if you want your OC on a team with anyone, just drop me a PM. Otherwise I'll just make them myself xD I have exams all this week, so don't expect another update for a few days at the least, but I think I make up for that with the rapid fire updates I've given you already. Oh, and I apologise for spamming 'Ryusuke sighed'. I'm trying to make it akin to 'Reacher said nothing' from the Jack Reacher novels. Actually, I'm not, it just happened. Anywho, I've rambled enough, so here are the back page liner notes:

Liner notes character profile: Ryusuke Yugure

Age: 19

Magic: Twilight Magic

Likes: Music, being left alone, playing guitar, reading, drinking, eating, his guild, swordplay, his friends.

Dislikes: Conversation, Celeste, being manipulated, pranks, baseball, being disturbed when eating.

Favourite foods: Burgers, pizza, pasta, bacon.

Special skills: Swordplay, soccer, sarcasm, chess, playing guitar, drinking.

Favourite songs: Sentry the Defiant by Coheed and Cambria; Four Simple Words by Frank Turner; Counterweight by Heaven Shall Burn; Inception of the End by Trivium; Mutiny by Parkway Drive

Theme song: Burning Bright by Shinedown.


	4. Devour

AN: I return with a new chapter! I now have a general outline for the entire story and the arcs it will contain, and I'm fairly confident that this story will be running for a while yet! Anywho, I'd like to thank all of the reviewers who wished me luck with my exams; your support has apparently made all of my exams so glaringly easy that if I'd bothered to do any revision I'd be calling up the exam boards and asking for my time back! I actually had time between exams, so I decided to get this chapter done for you guys, since I'm apparently a good writer, and this is apparently a good story. I thought I was crap, honestly! Also, it has occurred to me that I've been inconsistent with the colour of Ryusuke's magic; it is purple and white, not purple and gold. Apologies for the confusion!

Thanks to Lexlovesya, LightandDarkHeart, Lightningpanda, PrinceOfTheMatrix88, Manhattan Theory, MyDearWatson, FrozenBlast13, SaiyaStyles, Queen JJ, M-anonymous, VampyreEmoHunter and Cat the Alien (even though that was for chapter 1, but only showed up yesterday… but it was in my deleted e-mails too from when it was posted… weird.) for reviewing the last chapter!

On to chapter 3!

* * *

_Devour, devour, it's your final hour!_

* * *

Devour

"I'm in hell." Ryusuke was sitting on a train currently travelling towards Clover town. He was surrounded on all four sides, by a window, a seat back, a table, or by far the most irritating of blockades: Celeste Arturia. The girl irritated him to no end, but her animated conversation with Aster wouldn't be so annoying if she wasn't being so loud about it.

"Come on, Celeste, you know in your heart that I'd beat you," Aster smirked, clearly trying to elicit some form of reaction from the girl sat across from her. She succeeded.

"Oh, that's crap and you know it! I'll beat you all the way to Crocus and back any day of the week!"

Ryusuke sighed. "Celeste, would be please be quiet? I'm getting a headache."

She didn't take too well to this. "Oh yeah? And why the hell is that my problem?!"

"Because you're the one causing it…"

"Yeah, well if you don't stop trying to tell me what to do it'll be a hell of a lot more than your head that's hurting!"

Rhea interjected, with a grin on her face. "Aw, Celeste, leave poor Ryu-kun alone, he had a rough night." The grin devolved into a smirk.

"No. I refuse. Leave me alone." Ryusuke groaned, his face maintaining its usual bored expression, but his voice betraying his growing enmity.

Rhea's smirk grew wider. "So, how's the hangover?"

Ryusuke rested his head on his arms, which were currently folded on the table. "Piss off."

"My, my, Ryu-kun, that's an unusual way to speak to someone you confessed your love for only last night!"

Ryusuke merely sighed. "Kill me."

* * *

Oshibana Town. Only a short train ride from Onibus, and former location of the headquarters of the dark guild Eisenwald. Now, it was a booming town of commerce, a city based around its train station, with many dealers selling their products, and inns profiting on travellers. However, it wasn't the town itself that Wisteria was interested in. It was the temple just a little ways out of it. She was stood in the mayor's office, receiving a mission brief that the master had insisted she received. Honestly, she didn't understand why this was necessary; she could just go and deal with the issue, then return home, without having to deal with people. God, how she hated dealing with people…

"Are you the mage from Angel's Breath?" A plump, middle aged man wearing a business suit, with neatly styled black hair that Wisteria assumed to be the mayor walked into the room.

"Yes," Wisteria replied simply. She wanted to spend as little time in that stuffy office as possible.

"We believe the temple is haunted, and whatever is in there, I want you to destroy it!" The mayor's voice became panicked.

Wisteria growled. "Has it ever occurred to you that the thing in there is human?"

The mayor's eyes widened. "You haven't heard the noises… they're inhuman!"

Wisteria walked out of the office, her face scrunched in disgust. Her hair, though having been cut to level with her backside, still swished out behind her. She considered the man's words. To destroy something, something had had done no-one any harm? Despicable. She had vowed never to kill another human being unless she deemed it necessary, and it seemed as if the only harm this 'phantom' was doing was causing a little bit of fear and sleep deprivation. While she found a fair number of offences worthy of death, this was not one of them.

* * *

"Ohmigod we're finally back! That was a really long mission, I can't wait to get back and see everyone!" The girl speaking was a thirteen year old girl known as Melody Omacha.

She had soft, knee-length azure hair, skin coloured like milky coffee, innocent eyes of a true blue, and a thin body, stood at 4'11". Her amethyst guild mark was on the back of her right shoulder blade, and she wore a white bunny hoodie with the hood up, bunny ears on top, along with pale yellow shorts, white stockings reaching her knees and black, flat-soled shoes.

Another girl, who stood at the same height as Melody, pulled a pen from a white, woven leather belt worn loosely around her hips, and proceeded to write a subtitle in the air. "_I'm excited too, Melody-nee! I miss playing with everyone!"_

This was Echo Cyprus, fourteen years of age, a willowy girl with long legs with long legs and a relatively flat chest, peach skin and wavy, light blue hair falling to her shoulder blades, with one lock sticking up, almost as if it were an antenna. Her magenta eyes were large and almond shaped; she also had two gold studs in her ears, each with a small star hanging from it. She wore a frilly purple Lolita dress, with light pink ribbons around her wrists, white and purple striped socks, and black, shiny shoes. A pair of dark purple, wrist-length gloves adorned her hands, a pink bow choker wrapped itself around her neck, along with a matching ribbon in her hair. She also carried a bag, and a notebook was stashed in her belt.

"I agree! I wanna see if anyone has any new candy I can try!" This fifteen year-old was Mari Akiyama, and her silver, nearly white hair was tied in two loose ponytails and fell to her knees. Her eyes were violet, and her skin porcelain, although a small scar marred her left cheek, and her orange guild mark was on her left ankle. She was short and lithe, standing at 5'0". She wore no shoes, but she did wear black knee socks, with a pink skirt finishing a little above her knees, a white blouse, and a loose belt holding two long, pearl white swords, slightly curved at the tip.

The three girls often worked as a team, and it was rare to not see the three together in the guild. Being young girls, they were all rather cheery and innocent, and often had older members of the guild cooing in delight at their childish antics. Pushing open the doors to the guild hall, the three girls stepped over the threshold.

"We're back!" shouted Melody, a cheerful smile on her face. Anna was the first to hear her declaration.

"Hi guys! How did your mission go?

"_It went great, Anna-nee-chan! All of the townspeople were really nice, and it turns out that there were no monsters after all, it was just a big meanie trying to steal from people because he enjoyed it!" _After Echo had finished, she drew a small sad face in the air.

Mari raised her fist in the air. "Yeah, but we beat him, and everyone was really grateful to us, they even gave us free food and stuff!"

Melody's expression turned slightly fearful. "But Mari-chan, you got really scary when you were fighting that guy! It was like you were a different person…"

Mari's cheerful grin dropped, turning into an expression of guilt. "But he deserved it…"

Anna pulled the girl into a gentle embrace, soothing the girl before speaking. "Come on, now, Mari, there's no need to feel guilty about hurting somebody, after all, you were doing your job, and that man had been hurting all manner of people by stealing from them. What if he'd been stealing from someone who could barely afford to feed themselves? Is that kind of person really worthy of your guilt?"

Mari's expression didn't change. Anna didn't know. No-one could know exactly what it was like, how it felt when you became something like that, so merciless…

The four girls assembled heard a dark giggle. "Mari, why feel guilty? There's only one punishment for that kind of person, and that's to be sucked dry of every ounce of blood in them!" The cheerful smile upon Lucina's face was in stark contrast to her grim comment. However, being used to her, none of the girls were really surprised. "Even if you turn into a monster, there's no need to worry when it's directed at scum who are only fit to be my next meal. Enjoy it. Embrace it." She walked away, leaving the girls dumbstruck. Lucina wasn't exactly one for giving motivational speeches.

* * *

He thought he'd experienced hell before. He was dead wrong.

"I want a rematch!" came Aster's whine, the high pitch of it irritating Ryusuke to no end. They were currently walking towards the mountains at the edge of Clover, the location of the meetings of Fiore's guild masters. Rhea could see her friend's discomfort, but did nothing to avert it. She snickered as he sighed.

"For the last bloody time, Aster, I'll think about it, now please shut up."

"No, I'm not leaving you alone until you say yes!"

"Fine, I'll play you again, but just this once. After this, no more. Okay?"

"I suppose I can work you around later! Aster's usual smirk returned, and Ryusuke sighed. He had known this was going to be a long day, but he was starting to wish he'd reneged on the agreement he made with Rhea and just stayed in bed.

"Where are we even going? I don't see anything even resembling a nest for miles! I think we might be out here for nothing…" Celeste groaned. She was disappointed that she would perhaps have to give on fighting something.

"Just trust me, Celeste, I know where we're going," stated Rhea, a smirk on her face.

Ryusuke perked up slightly, bringing his right hand to the pommel of his sword, ready to draw at a moment's notice. "We're going to get attacked, aren't we?"

As he spoke, a wyvern's cry could be heard in the distance, rapidly closing in upon the group. Ryusuke sighed, knowing that at least he'd get to offset his irritation on the creature. He then heard another cry. And another. Turning around, Celeste was the first to see a group of six blizzardverns closing in on the four, and her face broke out into a wide grin.

"Bring it on, you overgrown lizards!"

As the creatures approached, it could be seen that they were massive draconian creatures, easily the size of a five storey house, likely even bigger. The blizzardverns were predominantly white, with three large, black talons on each foot, and two rows of black spines running down their backs. Their heads were angular, and they were exceedingly scaly.

"Leave this to me," said Ryusuke. He jumped, reaching a good height, before performing a Shadow Sneak technique, appearing around fifty feet in front of the flying creatures. "Twilight Slash." He let loose a large, black and white crescent of energy as he swung his sword. It was large enough to hit two of the creatures, but it barely affected them, leaving only scratches, and slowed them down only slightly. "Well shit," he swore, before he was barrelled out of the air, already beginning to fall.

* * *

To say Styles Kaizu was angry would be the understatement of the century. He and Kimi were in a forest, just off the road into Acalypha Town. They had stumbled upon a trail of dead animals, among which were deer, wolves and foxes. His eyes were not emotionless as they usually were, but instead showed pure, unadulterated rage. Kimi shared his enmity; she had nearly as large an affinity with nature as her brother did. Her eyes betrayed anger, but not to the level of Styles. He pulled a black scythe, made from bone and looking to have been dipped in blood, from his back. His black fingerless gloves had spikes on the knuckles, and he was ready to use every last weapon to make someone suffer.

"Goddamn humans!" he screamed, gripping his scythe so hard his knuckles went white. Suddenly, the two heard a rustling noise. They turned to its source, and saw two humans emerge. They were clad head to toe in black, with only their eyes showing. They looked to be of similar size and build, around the 6'1" mark, with a lot of visible muscle mass. After them came a hulking man of 6'7", with spiky black hair, wearing a black outfit the same as the other two, but without covering his face. He had a horizontal scar running across his nose, and wore a predatory smirk.

"Well, well, boys, look what we have here! Mages! Or, perhaps a better term would be _fresh meat._"

Styles gained a psychotic grin; Kimi's face became serious, aiming pure hatred towards the three. Styles spoke, his voice surprisingly calm. "So, is this your work? I must say, you seem to be surprisingly effective. Just a shame that I have to stop you. After all," his smile grew even more psychotic, and his head tilted to the right, "I can relate. Killing humans like you only ever brings me pleasure!" He pricked the fingers on his left hand with his right glove, drawing blood. "Blade of Essence!" A blade, made of his own blood, appeared in his left hand. His grin grew even wider, and he stabbed towards the ringleader with his bloody blade.

"Kayel-sama!" one of the other men shouted, attempting to run to their leader's aid.

"Zombie!" A man emerged from a card Kimi held in her right hand, bald, dilapidated, full of holes and his innards beginning to spill out. However, this summoning was incredibly fast and cut the two men off before they even had a chance to move.

"Your opponent is me," Kimi stated coldly.

* * *

"Gunblade Magic: Deploy!" The blizzardverns were still advancing on the group of three, now less one member, who had plummeted out of the air onto the unforgiving ground below. Celeste held Tyrhung in her right hand, her finger having pulled the trigger, twenty ticks remaining on the blade. Ten golden, medium sized projectiles were shot from the blade, forming into a circle around her. With a wave of her sword, the spheres repositioned themselves into a line in front of the rapidly advancing beasts. Even as the blizzardverns advanced, the spheres exploded outwards. The explosions were small, but the chain reaction made them noticeably larger. All six of the draconian creatures emerged from the smoke, although not unharmed. There were small burns covering their bodies, and the ones that Ryusuke had managed to wound were looking worse for wear than their four compatriots.

"Shooting Star!" Aster still wore a smirk, and a large beam of silvery-white light, looking rather the same colour as the solar portion of Ryusuke's Twilight Magic, exploded out of her hand. The beam struck one of the more heavily injured blizzardverns directly in the chest, shooting it out of the sky. Two of the creatures had rushed ahead and landed in front of the other three, Aster now panting slightly, her exertion obvious. "Starlight!" she declared, a flash of white light momentarily blinding the two creatures.

"Gunblade Magic: Artillery Strike!" A large golden shot fired outwards, consuming five charges. With the blizzardvern blinded, it couldn't dodge the shot, and Celeste's aim was true enough for the creature to be struck in the head, knocking it down. However, the other blizzardvern had recovered from its temporary blindness, and struck its claws at Celeste. She raised Tyrhung to block, but it was overpowered, and she was knocked a good twenty feet away.

"Rhea," Aster shouted, "now would be a great time to help!"

Rhea merely smirked at the girl. She held out her left hand, her index finger outstretched, pointing directly at the blizzardvern on the ground. "Illusion: Inversion." The creature then began attacking behind itself, clawing at thin air. Its sense of sight had been inverted, and so it was now seeing Aster as being behind it. The girl took this opportunity to strike. As she raised her hands, Celeste ran in, Tyrhung pointing at it.

"Gunblade Magic: Full Salvo!" Fifteen golden projectiles were shot from the tip of the sword, all converging on the blizzardvern's location. They exploded upon impact, burning the creature, and knocking it out of the fight. Aster smirked.

"You know, if it wasn't for me, you'd probably have died there."

Celeste's face dropped in anger. "Shut up! I could have taken them both on my own, but you just had to get involved and steal all the glory!"

Rhea's face grew serious as she addressed the girls. "You know, we're not finished yet…"

Celeste's face grew into a grin. "This day just keeps getting better and better…" She charged at the remaining blizzardverns, hovering around ten feet in the air. "Gunblade Magic: Overload!"

* * *

Wisteria was slightly disturbed. She had entered the temple, which looked unassuming and decrepit from the outside, but inside, it was like a warzone. Furthermore, the walls were covered by old, tattered banners depicting an eye open wide, inside of an open mouth. She had a hunch on what that sign was: the symbol of a dark guild. She had heard tell of Gluttony's Hunger, apparently a guild solely dedicated on summoning a demon that was considered the embodiment of gluttony. Only hearsay, of course, but the stories had always intrigued her. She walked through the abandoned building cautiously, watching her step and constantly scanning her surroundings. All of a sudden, she heard a rustling noise. She turned. Nothing. Turning back, she heard another noise, this time originating from a different spot. Again, she turned. Again, nothing. Darkness. Shadows. The light seemed to have been drained from the room. Perhaps the sun had been obscured by clouds? Even with the windows boarded up, some light had been coming in through the door she had left open. She kept her composure, but another noise pierced her ears. This one loud. A kind of wailing. It was getting closer. Closer still. She turned just in time for a figure to latch itself onto her arm, teeth biting in. Her eyes glowed white, her rage seemingly uncontrollable. The ground quaked as she released her hold on her rage.

"Who are you, and what the hell do you think you're doing?" she asked, her voice bitingly cold.

"Hungry… so hungry… I need to eat!" came the man's (for the voice was decidedly masculine) reply.

Wisteria got her first good look at him, and saw that, despite his immense size, he was still just a boy, perhaps only seventeen. He was around 6'5", with a flabby torso lacking definition, but large muscles on his limbs. His hair was shaggy, black and shoulder length, with bangs covering his blue eyes. He wore a simple, ragged brown tunic, with brown pants and boots. Although, with his teeth wrapped around the skin of her forearm, Wisteria didn't particularly care. Nobody touched her. She was angry, and this boy had freed the beast. Her voice was cold and commanding.

"Disaster Magic: Inferno."

* * *

"Come on Andrea, just a little bit?"

"No, Lucina; I am not letting you drink any of my blood." This girl's name was Andrea Agnelli, an eighteen year old mage who wore a perpetual nonchalant expression.

She was short, slim and flat chested, with hair a shade of silvery white kept short, a few strands reaching the back of her neck, and two larger strands framing her face, a fringe barely covering her left eye. Her face was skinny, her cheekbones high, skin pale and eyes light blue. Her guild mark, located on her left bicep, was the same colour as her eyes. She wore a sleeveless white dress shirt, with a semi-transparent light blue sweater, a blue, pleated plaid skirt lined with black lace, an armband on her right bicep, thigh-high black stockings, and ivory ankle boots.

"Aw, I'm just kidding anyway! You know I think you'd be too bitter!" Lucina wore a cheerful smile, showing that, despite the grimness of it, her comment was still a joke. A look of realisation dawned on Andrea's face, and she began laughing uncontrollably.

"Oh my god… Lu, that's really funny!" She laughed so hard that she brought herself to tears. Lucina was quite surprised; this was the first time she'd ever seen Andrea laugh. In fact, it may have been the first time she had ever seen Andrea express emotion; she was hard to amuse, and Lucina was dumbstruck. The girl made dark comments because she loved to creep people out, it may have been a joke, but she never expected anyone to laugh. Yet, here was Andrea, crying with laughter.

"Andrea, are you okay?"

"Aha… I'm sorry, but that was too funny! I can't believe that was a joke this entire time! I mean, drinking my blood for pleasure, oh god!"

Lucina may have been slightly perturbed, but she supposed the normally calm girl had to laugh at something, even if that something was her dark and inappropriate humour. "So, Andrea, when do you want to head out for a mission?" She again wore a cheerful smile.

Andrea, meanwhile, had calmed herself, returning to a nonchalant expression. "When Puzzlebox gets back; I want to take something high-paying, and we'll need three people for the one I have my eye on," she replied, her voice returning to being as nonchalant as her facial expression, as well as slightly cold.

Lucina's voice remained cheerful. "You know, we could do with more of the laughing Andrea!"

Andrea's face was still impassive. "There's something wrong with you, Lu."

"You know, that could be quite hurtful!"

"But that's the truth."

* * *

Celeste charged towards a blizzardvern with Tyrhung held close to her chest, pointing upwards at the sky. It was loaded with sixty charges, and beginning to be enveloped in a golden light. "Gunblade Magic: The War Goddess' Pillar!" She closed the final gap between her and the flying beast, with a massive grin on her face. She then slashed diagonally downwards, connecting with the creature. After this, she attacked with a flurry of slashes, each one leaving a large slash mark on the blizzardvern. Finally, she gave a powerful downwards slash, causing her and the creature to be surrounded by a pillar of golden light, which dissipated after a few seconds, to show Celeste standing over a fallen blizzardvern. Four down, two to go. Celeste was really enjoying this. However, her victory was short lived, as the remaining two blizzardverns attacked her at the same time. They could not come close, however, before Rhea had come in-between them and their target, a smirk upon her face.

"Tornado Wall." Four huge twisters of wind erupted from the ground, each one as tall as four of the cold-temperature wyverns, and spinning at around sixty-thousand rpm. The blizzardverns were both repelled, flying back from the force of the wind. Rhea's smirk grew wider as she raised her hands, waving them both outwards as the wyverns tried taking to the air. "Windscythe." Several hundred blades of wind appeared, each razor sharp, in the shape of a small crescent, but barely visible. They shot outwards at incredible speed, each hitting a blizzardvern, cutting into the flesh of the creatures, leaving them covered with lacerations, and bleeding rather profusely.

"Twilight Cannon!" Ryusuke had appeared, his coat tattered, and himself covered in bruises and small lacerations, but looking otherwise healthy. A large ball of twilight magic was on the tip of his sword, and as he named the attack, a beam shot forward from the ball, with a wide radius, and closing in on one blizzardvern. It made a direct hit, and caused the creature significant damage. It tried flying away, but with a quick Shadow Sneak, Ryusuke was directly in the path of it. He gave a smirk. "Not this time, you reptilian bastard." Even as he spoke, a projection of the moon began glimmering in the air, and an attack similar to his cannon, but composed of purely white light, finished charging on the end of his blade, the light reflecting beautifully off the meticulously polished silver surface. "Moondance." The magic shot over the wyvern, instead reflecting off the moon projection, imbuing it with magic of a very deep purple. It reflected directly at the blizzardvern, which was struck directly, and fell. He gave another small smirk, before returning to his usual bored expression, glancing over to see Aster fighting with the one remaining creature.

"Falling Stars!" Aster shouted, throwing her hands outwards, upon which small beams of starlight erupted from her hands, impacting with the creature. It roared, and she smirked. She knew she only needed one more hit to finish it, so she'd give it a good shot. "Twinkling Star!" Several small orbs of starlight came from her hands, circling around the beast. It looked amazed, and in wonder. She smirked, knowing that this was her victory. "Shooting Star!" she cried, the attack emerging again, and as it had before, striking the wyvern directly, putting it out of commission. She breathed a sigh of relief, as the fight was over. Damn, that had been tiring. The amount she had used her magic had left her drowsy, but she knew they still had to clean up. She turned to look at Ryusuke, behind whom was a large trail of destruction, leading all the way back to Clover, with several buildings lying in ruins. She was shocked. She didn't take Ryusuke to be the type of person to cause that level of damage.

"Oops?" he suggested, shrugging. Celeste began laughing.

"Oh god! Not only was it not me, it was the serious, calm guy who tries to make people think he never gets pissed off! I've gotta get a picture of this! Hey, Ryusuke, do a pose!" Celeste was clutching her sides now, as for once, she had not destroyed anything, yet, despite being a fair distance from the town, Ryusuke had somehow managed to annihilate half of it. Rhea didn't look too pleased.

"Ryusuke, how the hell did you manage to do that?" Her hands were on her hips, and a frown on her face indicated a rare displeasure.

Ryusuke was shocked. Not only had she used his actual name, but she, for once, didn't have a smile on her face. Then again, after seeing that technique nearly defeat two of the wyverns on its own, he decided that her ire was a bad thing. He was sure that she'd been holding back, as well; she might not have seemed it, but Ryusuke had observed that she was actually rather intelligent, as well as conscientious: she wanted her team-mates to be the ones to finish the fight. Just without destroying half of the town in the distance. Whoops. "Well, I had to soften my landing with a Twilight Cannon, otherwise I probably would've died. And that would have been bad."

A small smile found its way to Rhea's face, and she couldn't help but chuckle. "You know I'm gonna get the crap for this, right?"

"You don't have to, I can take responsibility for myself."

"Now, that wouldn't be very leader-like of me, would it?"

"Leader-like?" Aster requested, finally speaking up, her smirk playful.

Rhea grinned. "Well, yeah, I'm the strongest here, and besides, without me you wouldn't be here in the first place; this is an S-class mission, remember?" She turned to look at Ryusuke, her smile fading somewhat but still remaining. "And therefore, I'm responsible for my teammates," her face distorted to a devious grin, "and _disciplining them._"

Ryusuke sighed. Before that point, he couldn't wait to get home. Now, though? Now he could wait. He could tell that Rhea's idea of 'discipline' would be to humiliate him in front of the entire guild. In fact, she probably wasn't going to get nearly as much crap for this incident as she made out; she would just enjoy humiliating him. Seeing as he did probably deserve some form of punishment, given that he levelled half of a small town, he decided that he would resign himself to his fate. After all, it couldn't be that bad, right?

"Yeah, you're screwed!" Celeste guffawed.

"Just to say," Aster began, "she really does get a lot of crap for this. The master really doesn't like it when stuff like this happens, and Celeste does it enough for it to be a recurring problem-"

"Hey!" Celeste interrupted, scowling.

"Like I was saying, it becomes a recurring problem and the Magic Council sends letters sometimes. She's getting better though! I think…"

Rhea mirrored Ryusuke's characteristic sigh, before regaining her grin. "Like the Fairy Tail of old! Complete with the letters! Natsu Dragneel destroyed my house once, you know!"

Ryusuke looked intrigued, whilst Aster sighed. She had heard this story around twenty times before, she told it to everyone. Also, it appeared that sighing was becoming contagious.

"Yup! I used to live in Clover, and I was 12 at the time, it was just before I became a mage, actually. But there was this thing called Lullaby and-"

Ryusuke mercifully interrupted, saving Aster. "I know what happened. I read."

Rhea was about to retort when the four felt a dark presence descend, and looked up to a ridge to see a large, bulky man, with hair as midnight, eyes as black as the devil's soul, wearing a pure black robe, seeming to be shifting with the shadows. His face was young and handsome, unmarred, looking around twenty. His hair swept across his face as an ominous wind blew, giving the team of four the shivers.

"Well, well… it seems like there is a party going on," his face devolved into a grin, "do you mind if I join you?"

* * *

Wisteria's eyes glowed red, and her hair flew up, as if a gale blew it upwards. A swirling vortex of flames surrounded her, almost completely blocking her from sight. The boy attached to her arm had long since retreated, obviously knowing the danger that the flames presented. It wouldn't save him, however. With a simple flick of her wrist, Wisteria sent the flame rushing at her enemy. The fire encroached upon him, burning the boy severely, and as it dissipated he could be seen to be covered by severe burns, his clothing almost entirely burned off, leaving only the smallest fragment of his trousers. His hair was singed and burnt as well, his scalp showing, already beginning to blister. He panted, before picking up a chunk of rubble, and sinking his teeth into it. Wisteria was amazed, and a little fearful. She didn't understand this magic, and she feared what she did not know. She watched, dumbfounded, as the boy's hair regrew, and his burns and blisters began to heal. He was still in horrible shape, but he no longer looked like he'd been set alight and dropped in petrol. He held out the palm of his hand, a bubble of brown magic growing inside it.

"Granata!" he shouted, throwing the ball at Wisteria. She wasn't stupid, she knew she should dodge it, but the attack was incredibly fast, and it got a glancing hit as she dodged. It exploded massively, but only forced her back a few inches, leaving just a small burn on her left cheek. The boy looked slightly fearful, but rather than cower in fear, he tore another, larger chunk out of the rubble he had been holding, and threw the attack at her again. Knowing it was ineffective, she let it hit. Big mistake. The attack threw her back three feet this time, with her landing on her ass, a larger burn upon her right cheek, her clothes torn apart, and a burn could be seen on her stomach. That had actually hurt. Before she could stand again, however, he attacked again, creating a large bubble of magic, and throwing it at her. It looked significantly larger than his Granata spell, but moved around five times slower. This gave her the time to dodge, and it was a good thing she did. The attack hit a far wall, and even ten feet away, she was still hit by a shockwave, and forced back slightly. The attack reduced the entire wall to rubble. Wisteria wouldn't give him another chance to attack.

"Yin Magic: Leech." A small tendril popped out of the ground and grabbed the boy's ankle. He slowly began to look drained, and couldn't produce his Granata spell, his magical energy being sucked from him. It seemed as if she would suck him dry.

"Please," he spoke, his voice hoarse and gravelly, "I didn't mean to hurt anyone! Help me, please!"

Wisteria looked on coldly, not believing a word the boy said. That is, until she saw the tears in his eyes. They looked genuine, and she couldn't, in all good conscience, continue attacking. Especially not when the boy was essentially begging for mercy. "Why should I?" she asked coldly, her eyes not once leaving the boys face. He didn't notice her scrutiny, however, and proceeded to explain himself.

"They did this to me, a dark guild, Gluttony's Hunger. They," he almost couldn't continue, Wisteria's magic still draining him, although it had slowed, "they said they were trying to summon some demon lord, Adelph-something, and they did some ritual, and it put this magic inside me. Gluttony Magic. I-I just can't sate the hunger, it gnaws at me, and I have to eat all the time, anything I can find. I try so hard to control it, but I've eaten nothing but rubble for so long, I'd be dead if I couldn't turn anything into magic power. Please, I'm begging you, help me!"

Wisteria actually looked sympathetic. Her anger had dissipated. Although this boy had angered her so highly, she could see that he was damaged. Just like her. He was crying for help, and she could relate. She dissipated the Leech tendril, and simply looked at the boy. "I'm Wisteria Eneta Solari, a mage of Angel's Breath. Who are you?"

The boy sighed, finally free of the tendril. He was still in bad condition, but he could at least rest easy now. "Viktor… Abbadon." Viktor's breathing was laboured, and as he stood his movements were sluggish.

Wisteria gave him a cold look, but deep in her eyes, was a hint of empathy. "I'll take you back to my guild. I'm sure my master will be able to help."

Viktor looked overjoyed. "Thank you! Thank you so much!" He made for Wisteria, but she gave him a glare that spoke more than words ever could.

"Never touch me."

* * *

Kimi's zombie was tearing through the two bandits. They weren't even mages, and they were armed with only daggers. However, her zombie was having a hard time taking the two down on its own. She drew a card. "Troll!" she shouted, a pale green creature, a little larger than an average man appearing before her. The creature carried an axe, and without being commanded, jumped straight at the two bandits. Its axe cleaved through one, just as the other stabbed her zombie through the eye. She called off the summoning as her troll's axe cut through the second bandit like he was butter, completely bifurcating the man. She still held a cold look, and dissipated her troll back to its card.

"Scum."

Meanwhile, Styles was busy fighting against the leader, Kayel. He still wore a psychotic grin, his voice polite and friendly.

"You know, you should consider corpse as a career choice. I really think it would suit you!" He sprinted forward, cutting the man with his Blade of Essence, and swinging his scythe, leaving a large gash beneath the man's ribs, drawing blood. Styles grinned.

"You little brat! I'm going to kill you! Rock Pillar!" A pillar rose from the earth, and Styles easily dodged it. The man might have been a mage, but he was a rather weak one. Most importantly, now that Styles had drawn blood, the man was finished.

"Infection," he grinned. He could see the effect instantly. The attack had thinned Kayel's blood, and reduced the effectiveness of platelets considerably, preventing the deposition of fibrin. Basically, the man was bleeding out, and his blood wasn't clotting any time soon. The size of the wound Styles had inflicted increased the effect, and Kayel felt dizzy immediately. He fainted not long after Styles had called the attack, his blood flooding the forest floor, as he had forced the animals he had killed to do before him. "Quite truthfully, I don't give a shit about some stupid humans losing their stuff. It was when you decided to kill the sacred constructs of nature for fun that you pissed me off." Giving a final psychotic grin, Styles decapitated the man. Given that he was unconscious, he couldn't suffer anymore, and he wanted Kayel's death to be as gruesome as possible. He turned to see Kimi walking towards him, two bifurcated corpses behind her. He grinned.

"Where to now, Styles? Shall we collect the reward?"

Styles' eyes once again became emotionless. "We may as well. After all, we finished the job."

* * *

"So, what happened to them? Did you turn them in?" This was the question of a middle aged man in a business suit, at the Love & Lucky merchant guild.

"They died," Kimi stated simply.

"I asked you to hand them over to the authorities! Why would you kill them?"

"We would have died otherwise." Kimi was speaking for the two, as Styles was simply stood in the corner, glaring at the strange human.

The man gave a heavy sigh. "Very well, I suppose it couldn't be avoided…"

* * *

Rhea grew serious, her face devolving to a frown. "Who the hell are you?"

The dark man chuckled, his voice giving off a vibe of pure destruction. "I am a mere passer-by, one who has long since forgotten his own name. You may call me The Wanderer, for I merely wander this land."

"In search of what?" Ryusuke asked, his voice now laced with hostility. He knew danger when he saw it. And conversed with it.

"In search of fun," The Wanderer grinned. "And you, Ryusuke Yugure, shall prove to be very fun indeed."

"Listen, you goddamn creep!" Celeste screamed, "I don't know who the hell you think you are, or how you know Ryusuke, and frankly, I don't care! I just wanna know what the hell you want with us!"

The Wanderer gave a malicious grin, chortling to himself. "I wanted to meet the famous Ryusuke, of course! You know, your master talked all about you."

Ryusuke stiffened at the mention of his master, his face dropping into a malicious snarl. "What the hell do you know about her?"

"I know that she screams just as loudly as everyone else when the right amount of pain is applied," The Wanderer laughed, his light giggling exuding waves of malice. Ryusuke snapped. His face contorted in rage, and he rushed towards the man.

"_JUST WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU, YOU BASTARD?!"_

Rhea and Aster, having noticed the danger, both shouted. "Ryusuke, don't!" However, it was too late. He couldn't even hear them, their words drowned out by the sound of a red mist permeating his psyche.

"_I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU FOR HURTING HER! TWILIGHT SLASH!_" He imbued his blade with the attack, swinging wildly. The Wanderer caught Ryusuke's sword with his left hand, uttering the words, "Destructive Interference." A large slash suddenly appeared from nowhere on Ryusuke's torso, a burst of Twilight Magic erupting from it. He fell, blood staining his destroyed clothes, the slash reaching from his left shoulder to his right hip. The other three, needless to say, were not happy, and all rushed towards The Wanderer at once, Celeste performing an Overload, Aster charging her most powerful attack, and Rhea preparing her Windscythe attack.

"How disappointing," The Wanderer said, his face dropping with what looked like sadness. He crossed his arms, palms pointing at the rushing mages. "Destructive Pulse." A pulse of energy, barely visible, came from his palms, hitting the three females with a large percussive force, knocking them unconscious, and sending them flying backwards several feet. "And that was a weak attack… you're all like ants to me right now." He took a small vial from inside his robe, uncorking it and dumping the contents on Ryusuke's wound, before dropping the bottle on him. The wound seemed to seal somewhat, with the blood flow being staunched. "I shall let you live for now, only because you promise to be a lot of fun as you get stronger. I shall meet the four of you again next when old demons resurface, even if you do not realise." With this, he walked away, disappearing into shadows.

* * *

"Anna! Un petit, we must away! There is a mission calling us!"

Anna merely stared at her father as if he had just sprouted mushrooms from his head. "What is it, papa? And why is it so urgent?"

"Ah, I can tell you as we travel, un petit, but for now, Magnolia calls!"

* * *

AN: Shit went down! So, just who is The Wanderer? Who is Puzzlebox? What the hell did Mari mean? Why is Echo writing in the air? What is Baz and Anna's mission? Who is Ryusuke's master that The Wanderer can elicit that level of emotional response from Ryu-kun, who is usually The Stoic? Since when did Rhea know how to be serious? Does Celeste actually give a shit about Ryusuke? Will I ever stop asking rhetorical questions? All these questions, and more, shall be answered in due time… a couple in the very next chapter!

So, good, bad, average? I can't improve without your feedback, folks, so send it in! I'm really happy I could give you this chapter so early, especially with the shit that goes on. I was originally gonna cut the end of Styles' and Kimi's fights and show them next chapter, but I guess I'm just too nice! Also, I felt like jumping into that next chapter would be stupid. Twilight slash is inspired by Ichigo's Black Getsuga Tenshou in Bleach, and Rhea's Inversion spell is inspired by Shinji Hirako's Zanpakutou, Sakanade. Also, yay for biology knowledge! So yeah, give a review folks, I love hearing from my loyal (which is surprising, given that this is the fourth chapter including the prologue) readers! You're all legends! Anyhow, I bid you adieu, 'til next time! Hopefully Friday, if not then next week, as I'm having a drink-fest this weekend with some friends. TTFN!


	5. Three Evils

AN: You open your email. You see a message that wasn't there before. The email is from Fanfiction. You jump with joy upon seeing the subject title. You open the email, and click on the link contained within. And that link? It brings you right to this page, where you are currently reading this.

So, umm… been a while, hasn't it? I've been really busy with exams (which, mercifully, are finished) and that double edged sword, that which is both good and devastating… work. It isn't even that hard, it's just… eurgh. "Flip the pancake, then put acres of shit on it and probably burn it. Oh, and the pay is crap." This should be my job description, but, alas, it pays. At the expense of my writing time, but I can manage. I hope. I will continue this story if it kills me, it took time and effort to plan it right through to the end, and my plans are HUGE! Also, the impact of the last chapter made me very happy. All of you make me blush, honestly :3

I hope you enjoy this as much as you enjoyed last chapter, and all that's left is to thank all those who deigned to review: Cat The Alien, Frozenblast13, Lightningpanda, M-Anonymous, ManhattanTheory, Queen JJ, LightandDarkHeart and PrinceoftheMatrix88.

* * *

_You'll listen to reason, when you're face down in the dirt._

* * *

**Three Evils**

Four figures lay prone upon the dirty rock. Blood stained the ridge they lay upon, in vast quantities, most of it either pooled around the only one of the figures who was male, or seeming to have sprayed from his body, and a small vial was resting in the dried, caked-up blood directly next to him. The other three figures, females, were sprawled on their backs, quite a way away from the male, and indeed, from each other. The scene was one of devastation, with deep gouges carved into the rocky outcropping, still but a tiny mar upon the mountain. The four figures all lay inert, a product of some kind of immense trauma, to have them unconscious long enough for the blood to dry completely, operating under the assumption that the blood was that of the male. Nevertheless, all four still breathed. The breathing of the women was even, as if they were merely sleeping, although slightly ragged, perhaps as a result of some low level of concussive trauma to the midsection. However, the man was in rough shape. His breathing was incredibly shallow and ragged, and his dark grey overcoat, stained with blood, had been ripped from shoulder to hip, and would fall off his body if not for the ground keeping it in place. In short: it was ruined. Therefore, it was Bane Claec's first choice for a bandage. He had been out for a short stroll on his way back to Onibus, his mission recently completed, when he had happened upon the four figures: three of his guildmates, and one complete stranger. However, care he had for his guildmates had been overridden by this man's ailing condition; in truth, he looked close to death, and Bane wasn't about to let that happen. Especially after seeing the mark on his neck. He tore off the rest of the coat, working quickly to tie it around the man's wound completely, completely staunching any possible blood flow. The wound looked to have clotted, and it would end as a nasty scar, but Bane wouldn't take any chances. He looked around and wondered how to wake the girls up. Taking a swig from a hip flask, he shrugged, before preparing himself to shout.

* * *

"Well, won't this be fun?" A sarcastic voice graced Florence's ear, and she gave a very aggravated sigh. She turned to face the owner of the voice.

"Cyrus, shut the hell up! You should just be happy that the Lightning Queen herself invited you into her team!"

"Lightning Queen? Hearing you being full of yourself just never gets old!" Cyrus Angelos was a boy of eighteen, standing at 5'9" tall, with a slim, but slightly muscular, build.

His skin was lightly tanned, and his hair, midnight blue and shoulder length, was tied in a messy ponytail with bangs falling into his eyes, which were a sharp grass green, and held intelligence. His arms were covered in various tattoos, and he had a black stud in his bottom lip, with his unseen guild mark being located in silver right above his heart. He wore a grey t-shirt with a pair of loose fitting, faded, ripped black jeans, and a pair of black cargo boots. There was also a gold chain tucked underneath his shirt.

"At least I have a reason to be," Florence replied smugly.

"Not that I care all that much, but why are you calling it your team?" Dean spoke up from his front row seat to Florence and Cyrus' exchange.

"Oh, gee, I guess there's absolutely no reason, Dean… I mean, it couldn't possibly be because I'm the one who decided to form this team, could it?"

"Yeah, and I guess you're the strongest as well, right?"

"Well, Dean, I'm glad we're in agreement! Let Team Lightning Queen go on its first mission!" With this, Florence walked away, effectively ending the discussion.

"I'm regretting this already."

"You ain't the only one, Cyrus…"

"Think she realises how terrible that name is?"

"No, I'm sure she assigns everything a name she thinks sucks." Dean began following after the departing Florence, sighing all the while. Cyrus merely shrugged and followed after the two of them.

* * *

Eiko was, predictably, giddy. He was bouncing in his seat, and full of energy. He popped a small red pill from a packet, and threw it in his mouth, downing a large gulp of water with it. He felt it calm him slightly, but not really enough to have any kind of visible effect. Of course, the girl talking at him wasn't really helping matters.

"So the thing about potatoes is that they're unlimited and they can give you light and stuff and oh that reminds me of this awesome thing that's in the bible about when God said that he would let there be light and BOOM! Loads of light and suddenly and then the world then all the water and stuff and the sky and it was all awesome and then we were here and then potatoes came and ooh! Then we got candy and stuff and it was all- Eiko, are you listening to me?" She jokingly gave a slight whine on the last part of her sentence, and saw that he wasn't.

This girl's name was Nui Cytre Yunchen. She was 15, and stood at 4'11". Her hair was a black-brown colour, falling to her waist with bangs swept off to the right. Her eyes, unusually bright in their blue, were innocent and wide, giving a large amount of life to her small, petite face, and a chain snaked up her neck, with lotuses and bluebell flowers hanging from it. She wore a black and red, laced gothic lolita dress, with lavender ballerina shoes ascending to her knees. Her hands were adorned with blue and black striped fingerless gloves, she wore two-fingered chained rings, and a pair of indigo headphones was upon her neck. Her hair, meanwhile, was accentuated by a scarlet and white, dotted standup bow. She began speaking again, her pace almost too quick to follow.

"So anyway there was that thing about potatoes right and how they can give us light and it's really awesome honestly it makes me happy that we can get light from something that isn't magic and anyway the thing is-"

"Let's go play pool!" Eiko shouted, almost jumping out of his seat, running towards the stairs. Nui happily followed after him, easily keeping pace with the hyperactive boy.

"So the thing is, " she began, before Eiko interrupted her.

"I don't care about potatoes!"

* * *

"So, this guild…" Viktor began, his eyes on Wisteria, who was staring listlessly out of the train's window.

"Don't talk." She said this forcefully, and a little tiredly. Truth is, she was tired of the constant company, and she just wanted to be alone somewhere. Unfortunately, she appeared to have picked up a barnacle. Not that there were many other places for him to go, however. She turned up her music and simply relaxed, trying to tune out the world around her.

The two sat in uncomfortable silence (well, uncomfortable for Viktor, anyway) until the boy could bear it no longer. "Okay, seriously, when will we be there!?"

Even as he spoke, the train ground to a halt, and so Wisteria simply replied, "now."

The two exited their train carriage, Wisteria still silent, Viktor nervous and fidgety. He received a few stares, due to has tattered, burned, and nearly completely destroyed clothing, and they unnerved him. Wisteria, of course, paid them no mind, and set a pace allowing the boy to follow, scowling all the while. The two passed a few landmarks, such as the mage's bar, which left Viktor awestruck, but Wisteria simply walked until the two reached the guild hall of Angel's Breath. She simply led Viktor in, before taking him straight to the master's office, letting herself in and shoving Viktor through the door so roughly he ended up on his knees. Rosa looked at Wisteria questioningly, a suitcase set alongside her, obviously on her way out somewhere.

"The reason for my mission," she scowled, before taking her leave.

"So, you were the person 'making inhuman noises', as the request so delightfully put it?"

"Yes. I- I just couldn't help it!" Victor cried, sinking to his hands as well, before spilling everything to Rosa. The dark guild, their experimentation, the hunger. By the end, he was crying, and Rosa could only look upon him with compassion. The boy was traumatised, that much was certain. How could she, the guild master of Angel's Breath, a guild known for its compassion and acceptance, a woman who believed firmly in the human spirit and ability to reform, turn him away?

"It seems wrong that I know so much about you, but not your name. I'm Rosa Caliburn, the master, and you are?" she said with a warm smile, and eyes full of sympathy.

"Viktor Abaddon."

"Well, Viktor, welcome to the guild."

* * *

"WAKE UP SLEEPYHEAD!" Rhea awoke to find a fit, toned man of 6'2" standing over her.

He had pale skin and violet eyes, and his guild mark was covered up, but in purple on his back. His hair was black and layered, reaching the nape of his neck, kept in check, although questionably, by a dark purple headband, which kept his fringe out of his face, but just pushed his hair up and backwards in a disorganised fashion. He was wearing fit black pants tucked into tall, black leather boots that reached to just below his knees. His pants were kept up by a black leather belt with a silver skull acting as the buckle. He wore a dark purple shirt, the top of which was visible under a long, black overcoat, which was buttoned up by three silver buttons running down it. It reached his knees, but the bottom was thrown backwards in a duster-like fashion. His hands were clothed by black fingerless gloves.

"Bane," Rhea mumbled groggily, "what are you doing here?"

"I was just out walking; found you four here, unconscious. Whoever the guy is, he's in pretty bad shape. He needs taking to Clover, but I couldn't exactly leave you three lovely ladies here to sleep, could I?"

His words instantly alerted Rhea, and she snapped into a sitting position. "Ryusuke! Is he okay?!"

"He should be fine, but he still needs his wound looked at… that's one nasty gash, how'd he pick that up? And come to think of it, why exactly were you four lying out here in the first place?"

"It was a routine mission, really; came out here, rinsed some Wyverns, then this guy came up, said some shit, got us into a fight. We lost. Badly."

"Yeah, I can tell that…" Bane rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "You guys got beaten bad. Still, whatever you feel about it, just embrace the pain, feel it, and use it to make yourself stronger, so you can kick the guy's ass next time!"

Rhea favoured him with a smile. "Heh, thanks for the motivation, I guess. But we need to get out of here, let's wake up the others and get going."

They did just that, arising both Celeste and Aster before Bane tentatively placed Ryusuke over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. However, he simply wasn't gentle enough.

"Who the fuck are you, why am I on your shoulder, and what in the name of sanity happened to my fucking coat?"

* * *

"I'm sorry, but nobody here sent in a request for help to your guild, so you should probably just leave. I apologise for the inconvenience."

"Now, now, mon ami, it's right here, plain as day. I'm afraid that we cannot ignore a request like this." Baz was looking at Macao Conbolt, the fourth guild master of Fairy Tail. Their guild hall was modest, to put it nicely. To be realistic, it was beaten up and run down. Baz took a long draw on his cigarette, before his daughter spoke up.

"Mister Conbolt, it might not have been a member of your guild, but somebody sent us this request, and we're here to honour it. Perhaps it was an admirer, or a fan, but in any case, we're here to help and we won't leave until we have." Anna spoke calmly, and with compassion, her face betraying only sympathy for the guild. Really, how could she not feel for them? Their beleaguered fourth master looked incredibly tired, and losing so many of their important members at Tenrou island six years before had obviously taken its toll on the once magnificent guild. The harassment by Twilight Ogre was proof of how much they were struggling.

A child, of perhaps ten or so years, spoke up from behind the master. "Fairy Tail doesn't need outside help! We can take care of any of our problems by ourselves, lady!" This boy was Romeo Conbolt, son of the master Macao.

"Ah, calm yourself, un petit. Despite all of this, we are here to answer a request, be it by one of your guild or a member of the public. However, I would guess that it is a member of the public, given the mentality that your guild appears to have."

Macao began to look embittered, and clenched his hand into a fist as he spoke. "Who would care about Fairy Tail nowadays?"

"Ah, mon ami! There is no need to be so cynical! Evidently, somebody cares, or we wouldn't be here!"

Even as Baz finished his sentence, a voice pierced the air from behind him.

"Well, look at this… Fairy Tail getting help from another guild. That's low!"

Baz turned to see two generic grunts laughing their asses off. Their Twilight Ogre guild marks were clearly visible on their arms.

The second goon spoke. "We're here for the payment, Conbolt… and I hope you're ready to pay up!"

* * *

The trio stood in a cave. It was dark, musky and damp. They had been sent there due to it being the supposed hideout of thieves, but really, they couldn't be very good at it if they were using a disgusting cave as a hiding place. At least, these were Florence's thoughts as she strode into the shadows, her two companions following after her with equal confidence. After all, how could a bunch of thieves measure up to three highly trained mages?

"Hey, lowlives!" Florence shouted. "Get out here so the Lightning Queen can kick your asses!"

Voices came from the back of the cave, approximately thirty metres and a curve in the wall beyond the three.

"Who the hell was that?"

"Queen? Sounds up herself!"

"C'mon, Johnny, let's go teach her a lesson!"

Within seconds, two men had come running from the dark recesses of the formation, skidding to a halt and paling when they saw three opponents instead of just one. Cyrus smirked, Dean merely looked nonchalant. Florence however, gained a happy grin and launched herself at the two.

"Lightning Eruption!" Two large bolts of lightning erupted from the ground, one each at the feet of the two, and they were stunned instantly, knocked unconscious on the ground. "Well, that was easy…"

"Just keep going," Dean sighed, "There're obviously more of them."

And so the trio moved onward, and it didn't take long for them to find a group of around nine men sitting around on rocks, just relaxing. The walls of the cave were lined with stolen goods, stacked upon each other. Amongst them were weapons, food, and wads of money. The thieves were instantly alerted by the arrival of the three intruders.

"Who the fuck are you?"

"Who cares! Let's just waste 'em!"

All three mages smirked at this, and Cyrus spoke up. "Three each?"

"Sounds like a plan," Dean replied, and they split themselves into a line formation, Dean in the middle, with Cyrus to his right and Florence to his left. The thieves all pulled out weapons, ranging from daggers to greatswords, and a lot of them were shiny and new, obviously stolen, well out of the price range of a band of amateur thieves hiding in a dingy cave. Six of them charged at the trio, whilst three of them held back.

"Those three are mages, right?" Cyrus asked.

"No, they're holding back looking menacing for shits and giggles." Dean replied, his voice laced with sarcasm.

"Idiot," Florence added, before rushing to meet the charging opponents, four of whom swung their weapons at her. She dodged backwards without a problem, before holding out her hand. "Thunderclap!" She clapped very loudly, creating lightning in her hands, and releasing a shockwave of it towards the enemy. They all tried to dodge it, but three of the four who attacked were not so lucky, falling unconscious to the ground.

"Alright, tag out, _your majesty_," Cyrus said, adding a sarcastic bent to the final two words. Florence, as always, decided to take them seriously and gave a regal, condescending smile to him before running towards one of the men who had held back. When he clapped his hands and released a small seismic wave, the trio's assumptions were confirmed.

Meanwhile, Cyrus was amongst the non-magical goons. "Che, is my magic even needed?" He pulled the katana from his back and slashed one of them open. He fell to the ground, dead. Cyrus didn't feel much. Accidents happen, and these guys weren't really worthy of his sympathy. He hit one in the back of the head with the blade's blunt side, before smashing the pommel into one grunt's temple. He quickly ran towards one of the mages, who paled slightly. Dean simply strolled towards the only opponent left. "Apocalypse Soul: War." He was enveloped by a crimson light, and emerged from it looking like a different man. He had gained heavy, blood red armour with crimson accents, and extravagant spiked shoulder guards, a red shoulder cape hanging from the right one. His breastplate was engraved with runes, and he looked positively terrifying. To the mage in front of him at least. He held out his right palm, and calmly said, "Rage Burst." A red beam cam from his hand, hitting his opponent with a large amount of concussive force, knocking him out instantly.

"That was too damn easy…" he said, dissipating his armour.

Florence and Cyrus were coming to the same conclusion. Cyrus was lazily dodging his assailant's ice-based attacks, whilst Florence was jumping away from the weak seismic waves her opponent was emitting before getting in close and attacking with her hands and feet. However, both had had enough of playing around.

"Lightning Strike!"

"Concentrated Beam!" The two shouts were simultaneous, but they had different effects. Florence's Lightning Strike had a bolt of lightning tearing through the cave's ceiling, striking her opponent and knocking him out, possibly killing him. Cyrus' attack, however, formed a concentrated beam of light that shot at is opponent, knocking back into a wall, cracking it slightly.

"That really was far too easy," Dean remarked, holding a long length of rope in his hands.

"Why the hell do they have rope?" Florence asked.

"I don't think we wanna know," Cyrus replied.

* * *

"Why did it have to be golems?" Lucina asked her two companions, the look on her face one of sadness.

"Scared, Lu?" One of them asked, her eyes focused upon her friend, a cat padding along next to her.

"No, but golems don't have any blood I can drink, Puzzlebox!"

The girl simply let loose a smirk, showing off abnormally sharp incisors. She stood at 4'11" tall, and her body was lacking muscle mass. Her hair was black, and reached her waist. It was tied in a loose ponytail, and her bangs split in the middle, framing her face down to her jawline. She had an aristocratic face, with high cheekbones and it was downturned. The most prominent part of her face, however, was a black blindfold with royal blue tracing, which held a contrast to her skin, which was almost unhealthily white. She wore a black dress, with royal blue lace patterns adorning the hem, and attached sleeves.

"Enough of that, we should just get in, kill these things, get the money and return home." Andrea strode a little faster, wishing to get to the monsters and destroy them as quickly as possible.

"Huehuehue… ever so serious, Andrea! Sometimes I do wonder how your blood would taste! Cortisol rich, I guess."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Lu," she replied.

"I think she's right," Puzzlebox stated, her voice soft, but still audible, "we should just annihilate these fuckers and be done with it."

The cat padding alongside here mewled in agreement. "See, May agrees too." Puzzlebox stated. May was black-furred, with white around her paws, right eye, which was coloured royal blue, and her tail's point.

Lucina merely responded by matching her companions' pace, and before long they had arrived at a rocky outcropping, where they were confronted by two stone creatures. They were massive, standing easily at ten feet tall, and were incredibly bulky. They had no necks, and were coloured a stone grey, with arms the size of small cars.

Lucina giggled. "At least I get to have some fun!"

* * *

Ryusuke's questioned were answered only by a firm smack to his backside.

"Why?" He sighed abjectedly, already able to guess the answer.

"Because you deserved it." Rhea crossed her arms and smirked. Celeste just broke down laughing at him, and Aster couldn't help but let out a laugh.

"But why my arse?"

"Only place in reach."

"I hate you, Rhea."

"No you don't. Besides, you shouldn't speak to Bane like that! Have some gratitude, if it wasn't for him, we'd all still be lying there."

Ryusuke, with some effort, turned his head to Bane. "Bane, was it? Yes, as much as I appreciate it, your picking me up was wasted effort. You see, I'm not an invalid."

Bane chuckled. "Y'are right now, kid. So you're getting carried."

Ryusuke sighed. He said nothing, but got a grip on Bane's lower back and flipped himself off his shoulder. An action he immediately regretted, falling to one knee, gasping in pain, and clutching his hands to his chest.

"You're an idiot." Rhea gave a light slap to the back of his head, as he stood and walked shakily back towards the group.

"I think I'll take that ride now."

"Thought you might," Bane smirked, before picking him back up.

"Who are you, anyway?"

"Bane Claec. S-class mage. Of your guild. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Huh. Likewise." And with this, Ryusuke adopted his usual silence, even as the group walked. At least, until Aster spoke up, a teasing smirk on her face.

"You know, you don't look half bad being carried like that, Ryusuke."

"Wonderful," he replied, "maybe I should model for _Fireman's Carry Monthly_."

Bane chuckled, and Rhea giggled. "Y'know, Ryu-kun, I think I might take a picture, y'know, to send in!" This had everyone laughing, apart from Ryusuke himself, who merely sighed.

"And you people wonder why I don't talk."

* * *

"Well, mes ami, I'm guessing that you are the people we're here to deter, hmm?" Baz said.

"I'm afraid we can't go easy on you," Anna added, "not with you hassling innocent people like this."

"Innocent?" one of the Twilight Ogre goons began, "they owe us money, like it or not!"

"We owe you nothing!" Macao protested, "we've already paid our debts, you just keep coming to add on these 'interest payments' of yours!"

"You borrowed money from Twilight Ogre, you pay the interest rates we set!"

"I've heard enough," Baz said. "Le Bonheur." He took a drag of his cigarette, and blew out the smoke. It turned black, and rapidly converged upon the location of the two Twilight Ogre mages in the form of tentacles. They gripped on to the two tight, causing visible discomfort.

"I ain't taking this from an old man… Ice Shard!" A shard of ice formed in one of the grunt's hands, and cut through the smoky tendrils. He threw the shard and cut through the appendages restraining his partner, who immediately recovered himself.

"Take this! Boulder Toss!" He put his hand to his shoulder as if he were a shot-putter, and a relatively large rock formed upon his shoulder. With deceptive strength, he threw it at Baz and Anna. They, however, remained calm. Anna simply spread out her hand.

"Protegez." A metal shield formed around her and her father, completely stopping the boulder in its tracks, although it did dent the shield somewhat. It dissipated and Baz took another drag from his cigarette.

"A Bout de Soufflez." He blew the black smoke towards his opponents, causing them to cough, and tears to stream from their eyes. The smoke's great volume increased its area of effect, and soon the two were doubled over in a fit.

"Jardin de Fleurs." Anna made a few complicated hand signs, and a garden of sharp metal flowers was released. They surrounded the two coughing men, and converged upon them, cutting into the two's skin and drawing blood.

Baz took a long drag to prepare the finisher. "Tirez Sur le Pianiste." Two gun-like appendages composed of smoke appeared on his hands. From each shot a single smoke bullet, looking dense and heavy. Each bullet collided with a goon, sending them sprawling onto their backs, unconscious.

"Well, mes ami," Baz said, "It is probably time we took our leave. If ever you need help like this again, feel free to give us a call."

"Well, I should thank you for the help, I suppose. Have a safe travel." Macao spoke, his moustache bristling. With this, Baz and Anna walked away, Baz extending a hand into the air.

* * *

"Did I tell you the thing about potatoes? Well they're really great and you can do this thing…"

Viktor sighed. Why did this girl like to babble on so much? What was her name again? Yui, or something, Nui? He knew that the boy across from him practically dancing in his seat was called Eiko. The girl had just come over and started energetically talking at him, and Eiko had just been bouncing around the room and found an unfamiliar face there. He was willing very hard for her to stop talking, and mercifully, she did. However, she looked to be contemplating something, and after only a couple of seconds began speaking again.

"You should join a team with me and Eiko!"

Viktor was dumbstruck. She had known him for the sum total of ten minutes, maybe less. "Why?"

"Well you're like the odd one out and so is Eiko and I know we only just met but you seem like a really nice guy and three is the best number so we need a third person!"

"Hey, wait a second, when did I agree to this?" Eiko protested.

Nui merely smiled. "When I told you that you don't get your medication back until I do!" She deftly reached into Eiko's pocket, removing the pill packet he had taken from earlier before running away.

"Hey, that's not fair! Get back here with those!" Eiko immediately started sprinting after her, knocking over several tables and chairs as he did so. Viktor looked on with bemusement at the people in his new guild. He didn't think quirky was strong enough of a word.

Meanwhile, as Nui approached the front door, Styles Kaizu and his sister Kimi entered the hall. Only for Styles to be immediately bowled over by Nui. Eiko energetically approached the downed duo before extracting his pill packet from Nui's hand.

"Hey, thanks for the block, dude!"

Styles simply sighed. "What's wrong with humans?"

* * *

"Blood God's Bellow!" A large torrent of black blood was shot from Lucina's mouth, colliding with one of the golems. It did naught but chip off a few pieces of rock and force the creature back slightly. It lunged wildly at the Blood God Slayer, but missed as she deftly dodged, and was instead brought into Puzzlebox's path.

"Echo," she stated, an invisible wind construct giving her a form of echolocation. "Wind Make: Golem." A large golem, almost identical to the ones it was supposed to be fighting, but made of wind, appeared. "I'll fight these rocky bastards at their own game."

Meanwhile Andrea was, as ever, completely serious in fighting one of the golems. With its compatriot occupied by Puzzlebox's construct, it swung a large fist down at Andrea. She jumped back, and the golem's fist instead collided with the ground, leaving a large crater. "Ice Dragon's Roar!" She held her hands to her mouth, cupped in the characteristic pose, and released a blue blast of energy, which seemed to suck all the heat from the area around her. It chipped the golem, but more importantly, flash-froze it. One down.

Lucina giggled as she unleashed another bellow at the remaining golem, damaging it even more, and causing a distraction that allowed Puzzlebox's wind construct to club its head. However, Puzzlebox grew tired of the battle, and she wanted it to be finished. She had requipped into tight leather armour with a hood up, and not even a centimetre of skin shown.

"Wind Make: Cage!" A cage of wind was created around the golem, trapping it in a vulnerable position. Perfect for Lucina to swoop in.

"Blood God's Nosferatu!" Lucina's hands were encased in a massive amount of black blood, which shaped itself into claws. She then let lose a devastating slash with both of them, which tore chunks from the golem's body. At that moment, however, ice could be heard breaking. Lucina went over to help where Andrea was already preparing the next technique to throw at the onrushing monster.

"Ice Dragon's Cold Blade!" A greatsword of ice formed in the hands, and, dodging to the side of the golem's clumsy swipe, she slashed at its midsection. She left a decent-sized scratch, but ice immediately began spreading over the wound, slowly moving up the golem's body, restricting its movement.

"Blood God's Bellow!" Another torrent came from Lucina's mouth, this time shattering the creature completely. That was one of them definitely down. The other one was having a difficult time contending with Puzzlebox fighting it with a massive scythe of wind, but it wasn't too damaged. Andrea decided to instantly change that. Putting her hand upon the bulky leg of the golem, she declared:

"Ice Dragon's Blooming Ice Lotus!" The leg was coated with a thin layer of ice, and Andrea removed her hand, allowing the technique to feed off the eternano in the atmosphere, getting thicker and growing to coat the golem's whole body. It was having incredible difficulty moving, and after a few seconds, it was completely frozen and completely still. Lucina giggled, whilst Puzzlebox readied to swing the scythe.

"Blood God's Nosferatu!" Lucina let loose her technique again, and slashed at the same time as Puzzlebox, and with both attacks hitting at once, the ice, along with the creature inside it, shattered. Puzzlebox requipped back into her normal attire and May simply mewled, emerging from hiding now that the fight had finished.

"Now let's go find me some poor, helpless idiot's blood to steal!" Lucina's grim comment was in a direct contrast to her upbeat voice and cheerful smile.

* * *

"I'm fine, get off me."

"Are you sure? That wound looked pretty deep, I should probably keep you here to rest for a while."

"I said I'm fine. I'm going home, not staying here." Ryusuke was talking to a medic in a small clinic in Clover. Thankfully, it hadn't been one of the buildings he had destroyed, otherwise he was sure he'd be in deep trouble right now. He tugged his shirt on over a thick layer of bandages as he exited the building to find Bane, Celeste and Aster waiting for him.

"Where'd Rhea go?" He finished buttoning his shirt.

"Somewhere," Bane replied, "said she had some kind of business."

"Whatever. I'm sure she can find her way home, I'm going." His tone had hints of both sorrow and anger to it.

"Hey!" Celeste stood up and walked over to him, standing threateningly astride him. "What crawled up your ass, hmm?"

"That bastard ruined my coat." All assembled facefaulted at this declaration, Aster and Celeste having a much greater confusion. Celeste's pranks did nothing to anger him, but rip up a coat? They were confused, to say the least.

"Your… coat," Celeste managed to utter, before shaking her head and walking away. She needed to decipher this before she could punch him in the face for some reason she'd come up with later.

"Don't you have, like, nine of them?" Aster inquired, looking bemused.

"That was my favourite."

"Aren't they all the same?"

"They're all my favourite."

It was at this moment that Rhea decided to show up, looking bright and happy. "You know that makes no sense, right?"

"Yeah, well, so's your face."

"You know, Ryu-kun," Rhea gained a devious smirk, "you're just digging yourself a hole here."

Ryusuke's reply was quick. "Yeah, but the further underground I get, the further away I am from you and the idiot, so I'll keep digging."

He was quickly downed by a punch to the back of his head. "Who d'you think you're calling an idiot?" Celeste stood over him threateningly, but he stood nonetheless, rubbing his head lightly as he did so, and characteristically turning away from her and addressing Rhea.

"What were you just doing, anyway?"

"Stuff."

"Okay then. I'm going home, come with me or don't, I've reached my limit for caring today."

Rhea and Bane brought up the back of the group, strolling casually through the streets. "That's pretty nice," Rhea remarked.

"What is?" Bane asked.

"He's already calling the guild home." She gave a small smile before quickening her pace slightly.

* * *

"So, are the preparations complete?"

"They are, sir, all seven of us are ready to retrive."

"Pfft, I could do this alone and you know it!"

"Please, calm down, Delia. This is to be a team effort."

"Hmph."

"What are we hunting for again, sir?"

"Just some form of Unspoken Treasure, my friend…"

* * *

AN: DONE! Finally! That took so long, and I felt so out of the groove! So, good, bad, average? Apologies if it feels a bit sloppy, after taking so long away, I felt a bit out of sorts with writing the characters until I got closer to the end. Standard applies, if your character didn't get much screen time, do not worry! It will come. I have big plans. BIIIIIG PLANS. I shall try to update once a week, but don't quote me on that. I'm a busy man. Oh, and my friend said about Ryusuke, "he's a pimp and doesn't know it." Just thought I'd share that one. So, until next time folks!


	6. Attack

AN: What's up? I return with a new chapter, and we're kicking into a new arc! Introductions are out of the way, so let's get on with the next part of the story! I'm blushing and gushing at all of the positive reviews I'm getting, but that they're all positive worries me slightly. I'm not THAT damn good, if something's wrong, I want criticism. It helps me to improve as a writer. Still, I'm glad everyone's enjoying the story, so without further ado, let's get on with it! Right after I thank FrozenBlast13, Queen JJ, PrinceOfTheMatrix88, ManhattanTheory, SaiyaStyles and Lightningpanda for their reviews.

* * *

_Run away, I'll attack, I will attack_

* * *

**Attack**

"Surveillance is such a bore…" A dark figure lay prone on a small hill. In the shadowy hours of the night, not much could be discerned about the figure's appearance, but the voice betrayed the figure as a female. She was dressed all in black, as was her partner, outfitted, quite clearly, for stealth alone. Even the facemasks they wore betrayed nothing but a merge with the inky darkness of the midnight hour.

"What's wrong? At least we're outside, this is much better than being stuck inside some stuffy room with everyone else! But you have to go and be such a grouch about it…" This voice was also female, another figure, also lying prone. She was shorter and thinner than her partner, but also looked more graceful. She took a pair of high-powered binoculars from her partner and gazed into the street around fifty feet away.

"Be quiet, Ana. He should be coming any time now. We've been told to eliminate any threats to the mission, and these people are sure to stick their noses in where they don't belong. This applies especially to our target, known to be intelligent, powerful, and above all, nosy. Keep an eye out. We have to get rid of him."

Even as she talked, a lone figure wearing a long overcoat passed by, looking relaxed, with no hints of suspicion or paranoia about his person.

"Hey!" Ana said, her tone hushed, "is that him?"

"He matches the description near perfectly. Let's get moving." And with this, the two figures took off towards their target.

* * *

_A few hours earlier:_

"I don't know who you are, but I would very much like for you to stop talking." Ryusuke wasn't exactly the happiest man on the planet. He'd picked up a huge wound on his torso that still pained him even now, a week after the incident. He had been near enough ordered to take it easy, and his definition? Not having to listen to little girls babble on about the first thing that comes into their minds.

"Aw, but I wanted to tell you the thing about potatoes," Nui whined, Eiko hyperactively laughing his ass off at Ryusuke a few feet away.

"I already know enough about potatoes."

"Oh really?" she pouted, "like what?"

"They make good chips." He sighed. He had not signed up for this crap, and he had been in this guild for around a week and a half, still barely knowing half of the members. He had hoped to keep it that way, but he was forever being baited into conversations he simply wasn't interested in.

"Okay, but there's this thing in the bible where-" she was abruptly cut off.

"Atheist." Ryusuke tried to drown his sorrows in his beer, but it didn't work. She just kept talking.

"Well I can still tell you more about-" the rest of her words were lost to him.

"Kill me."

* * *

He was in charge of the guild whilst the master was in Clover. Oh joy. On one hand, he could just sit around and drink all day, but on the other, he was responsible for everyone. And something bad always happens in these situations, just as surely as day turning into night. It was almost a cliché. And Bane would be the one to bear witness to it. As he swigged from his flask despite the store of alcohol only feet from him, an unfortunate habit, he sincerely hoped that fate wouldn't choose to screw him over.

"Something wrong?" Dean sat on a stool next to his fellow S-Class mage.

"Nah, nothing, just irrationally worrying about whatever the hell's gonna happen while the master's away."

"Yeah, I'm sure there's going to be an alien attack, followed by a massive Chthulhu eating us all." Dean's voice was dry and laced with sarcasm.

"Gee, thanks, you made me feel a whole lot better." Bane took another long swig from his flask, frowning when it became empty. He turned and walked away, absentmindedly wondering if his worrying had any foundation. After all, he did have a feeling, just something in his gut. Something that told him everything would not be fine. Not for long.

* * *

"Starlight!" A flash of brilliant white light occupied the landscape. It was brief, but it was enough.

"Goddamn it Aster!" Celeste Arturia shouted. "You blinded me! You're about to freakin' pay! Gunblade Magic: Homing Shot!" Only thirteen ticks now remained on Tyrhung as a small, blood red projectile was produced, largely askew of its intended target. However, true to its name, the projectile corrected its course, and aimed instead straight for Aster, forcing her to run.

Rhea and Florence watched with a muted interest. Watching their two friends spar wasn't exactly at the top of their to-do list for the day, but it was a great way to kill time. They watched as a small explosion enveloped Aster's location and sent her flying, kicking up a small cloud of dust as she landed. Rhea smirked; this was the perfect moment to earn herself a little something extra. She turned to Florence.

"Fifty jewels on Celeste."

Florence smirked back. "I'll take you up on that; Aster's gonna stomp her."

As the two shook hands to solidify their agreement, both combatants felt a little offended, both having heard the exchange. Celeste wasn't entirely happy; how could Florence think that, of anyone, she would lose? It was a travesty that these thoughts could enter somebody's mind! She focused herself, and now, with the gift of sight restored, she redoubled her efforts.

"Gunblade Magic: Full Salvo!" Thirteen projectiles erupted from Tyrhung's blade, heading straight for Aster. The girl knew she wouldn't be able to escape them and so readied herself for defence instead.

"Falling Stars!" Thirteen small beams of Aster's Star Magic came from her outstretched palms to intercept Celeste's Salvo. Having already used her reload spell, Celeste charged in. She thrust her sword forward before pulling the trigger.

"Gunblade Magic: Scatter Shot!" Seven projectiles flew from Tyrhung, straight towards Aster. She narrowly dodged, and as such, their sparring session continued.

* * *

"How's the wound?" Bane asked Ryusuke, taking a long drink from whatever alcoholic beverage he had decided to stock his flask with. Why he was drinking from the flask, no-one would ever know, given that he was in a room that had a bar as its centrepiece.

"Healing. As wounds tend to." Ryusuke himself took a sip from his beer, largely uninterested in a conversation. Despite this, Bane was one of the more agreeable members of the guild, and given his power level, Ryusuke had put him firmly in the category of 'people not to fuck with'. So he had decided not to complain. This wasn't going to stop him from being himself, though.

Bane merely laughed. "Yeah, they do tend to do that. I'm just worried about your health, that's all."

"I'm fine. And your worrying does nothing to aid my recovery, so don't."

"It might not, but that doesn't stop me. You know if you need help with something, you can always come ask me."

"Duly noted."

"I'm being serious, I care about my guildmates. Even the ones who don't seem interested in it."

"I wasn't questioning your legitimacy."

A small smile played on Bane's lips. "So what exactly did the doctors say when they took a look at the basket inside that case?"

Ryusuke smirked. "They didn't say anything, they were so horrified they all had heart attacks." With this, he stood up and walked away, raising his hand in a wave. Bane just smiled and shook his head, before realising that he had spoken to two people today that he had an important task for.

"Ah, crap… hey, Ryusuke! Go get your team, I need to talk to you in Rosa's office."

Ryusuke merely turned and acknowledged him, before heading out to the back door of the guild hall.

* * *

Florence begrudgingly handed fifty jewels to a smirking Rhea. Stupid Aster, losing the fight.

"How do you like that, Florence?!" Celeste shouted over. Her smug grin spoke volumes.

"Damn… you really wanted to prove her wrong, huh?" Aster sidled up alongside Celeste, rubbing her head. "Well I challenge you again! And this time, I'm gonna win!"

Celeste smirked, readying Tyrhung once again. "You're on, let's go!"

Even as the two prepared themselves to go again, a voice pierced through the air. "Hey, idiots! Bane wants to see us about… something."

Rhea piped up. "Something? That it, Ryu-kun? I could probably get that from the bar."

"Whatever. You don't want to come, it's up to you, on your head be it."

His three teammates followed after his retreating form, whilst Florence simply settled into her chair, content to enjoy the sun. How unfortunate, then, that she would have only another few seconds.

"Florence!" Ryusuke shouted from the door, instigating her to look up. "Apparently you're coming too."

* * *

"So let me get this straight," Celeste said, "these people expect us to find this thing, fight off anyone else who wants to take it, then give it to them? Sounds pretty boring, why's it S-Class?"

"Because of the nature of the item, and who else might be after it," Bane replied, "There've been reports of a few dark guilds going after it, and it's said to hold a lot of power. The master left it with me, but she also told me to stay here, so I'm leaving it with you guys, two teams headed up by S-Class mages. I think it's in capable hands."

"Famous last words," said Ryusuke.

"Right," Dean said, "So what exactly can it do?"

"Yeah, we don't know." Bane looked slightly apprehensive at this.

"Well, just fantastic. Let's go collect something, braving death and danger, for something that, for all we know, can only cut cheese," Cyrus snarked. Surely there were better things he could be doing with his time?

"You're not telling us something," Rhea stated, watching Bane's eyes shifting carefully.

"There are rumours," Bane began, "but they're just that. Rumours."

"Tell us then." Aster's tone was resolute, but respectful.

"She's right," Ryusuke sighed, "the more information we have, even if it is speculative, the better prepared we are."

"Okay then." Bane spoke tentatively. "I've heard tell that the Unspoken Treasure can be used as an infinite incendiary."

"And that means?" Celeste asked.

"It blows things up a lot." Ryusuke sighed. Some people were just idiots.

"So why is it that dangerous?" Florence asked. Rhea was the one to respond.

"Can you imagine a dark guild with a massive bomb that they can use over and over again? They could singlehandedly devastate the entire country."

"That makes sense, I suppose. But why is it unspoken if it's just a bomb?"

"Some jackass clearly thought it was a cool name," Cyrus coolly replied, "don't be an idiot."

"You're an ass, Cyrus."

"Why thank you, _your majesty_."

Florence snorted in disgust. She really couldn't stand his attitude sometimes. "So where the hell are we supposed to start?"

"I've been told that there's a dark guild with a lot of interest in this based in Hargeon. So I'd suggest there."

"Alright then," Rhea smiled, "we'll leave tomorrow!"

* * *

Ryusuke Yugure felt an itch in his neck. He didn't bother turning around, if you were being followed, you didn't let your pursuers know you knew. That would eliminate your own element of surprise. So he didn't turn, didn't change his pace, and continued his night-time stroll. He turned a corner that he wouldn't have usually taken, but his pursuers hadn't exactly been watching him every day. It wasn't on his way home, but he knew where he was going. That being into a side street not far from the corner he had just turned. Turning around, he began walking backwards, before hiding himself behind another corner. His two pursuers turned the corner he had just turned, to find the street devoid of any activity.

"Hey, where'd he go?" Her tone was hushed.

"He can't have gone far, Ana. You take that street, I'll go straight. We'll meet back here in half an hour."

"Okay, I've got it!" Ana crept carefully into the side street, moving slowly and silently, checking every crack and crevice for her escaped prey. She inched past Ryusuke's hiding place, and he pressed himself closer to the wall, hoping the shadows would keep him hidden. He knew how to make this situation on of his advantage, and it all hinged on the human impatience, the want to move on and find that for which they were searching. He hadn't survived for the best part of two years on the road by getting complacent in the middle of the night. Someone who was amazing at this would double check, and upon a second look, they'd see him. He wasn't very well hidden, and he knew it. Fortunately, she wasn't amazing. She was good, he could see this, her gaze flickering back and forth, taking everything in, but she wasn't good enough. She moved on. He waited a spell, before peeking around the corner, tight to a wall. She was still moving slowly forward. He checked for a rearguard, and upon finding no danger there, stepped out, his hand held ready on his katana. He debated staying silent and following her, but he wasn't really in the mood for a game of cat-and-mouse.

"I have two questions. One, who the hell are you? Two, why are you following me?" His voice pierced through the silent night like a knife. Ana immediately perked up, and slowly turned to see Ryusuke, his back to a wall, the entire street visible to him. He still, despite the situation, wore a nonchalant expression, even though his right hand was firmly poised to draw his sword. Ana smiled slightly.

"One. Your executioner. Two. To eliminate you." With these words, she launched herself at Ryusuke, poised to strike.

* * *

AN: I apologise for how short this chapter is, I really do. However, I was hit with writer's block about halfway through it, and it took a lot for me to get to this point. Still, it came out snappy, and quick-paced, so I'm pleased with that part. I have to get this out now because I have something special planned for Monday (keen readers will know why). So for today, you'll have to be content with this chapter and a character profile.

Character Profile:

Name: Rhea Yokoshima

Age: 19

Magic: Wind Magic/Illusion Magic

Likes: Ice cream, friends, chaos, movies, music, sunny days, walking

Dislikes: Hurting her friends, overly arrogant people, rain, false modesty, fire

Special skills: Causing chaos, conversation, hand-to-hand combat, annoying Ryusuke

Favourite songs: The Kill by 30 Seconds to Mars; God & Satan by Biffy Clyro; Counting Stars by One Republic

Theme Song: Firefly by Breaking Benjamin


End file.
